IIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA          LIBRARY   OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 


IIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA          LIBRARY   OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 


m/i 


IITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 


LIBRARY    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 


LIBRARY    OF   TH 


p 

ITY   OF    CALIFORNIA          LIBRARY   OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA          LIBRARY   OF   TH 

jKblttsX? ".    x 
^ 


n 


THE  LIFE 

OP 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

VOLUME  II 


LIFE    MASK   OF  LINCOLN.       i860.      AGE   51. 
Made  in  1860  by  Leonard  W.  Volk  of  Chicago.    From  a  photograph. 


The  LIFE   of 

ABRAHAM 
LINCOLN 

DRAWN  from  original  SOURCES 
and  containing  many  SPEECHES, 
LETTERS       and      TELEGRAMS 

hitherto  unpublished,  and  illustrated 
with  many  reproductions  from  original 
Paintings,  Photographs,  et  cetera 

BY 

IDA    M.  TARBELL 


Volume  Two 


NEW  YORK 
Doubleday  Page  &  Co, 


MCMIX 


Copyright,  1895,  1896,  1898,  1899 
By  THE  S.  S.  McCniRE  Co. 


Copyright,  1900 

By  DOUBLEDAY    &    McCLURE    Co. 


Copyright,  1900 
By  MCCLURE,  PHILLIPS  &  Co. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXII.  The  first  inauguration  of  Lincoln — The  relief  of  Fort 
Sumter — Seward's  ambition  to  control  the  adminis 
tration  _____--_-  i 

XXIIL     The  beginning  of  civil  war 33 

XXIV.     The  failure  of  Fremont — Lincoln's  first  difficulties  with 

McClellan— The  death  of  Willie  Lincoln                     -  61 

XXV.     Lincoln  and  emancipation      ------  93 

XXVI.     Lincoln's  search  for  a  General 127 

XXVII.     Lincoln  and  the  soldiers 146 

XXVIII.     Lincoln's  re-election  in  1864 170 

XXIX.  Lincoln's  work  in  the  winter  of  1864-65 — his  second  in 
auguration  ---------  205 

XXX.     The  end  of  the  war 230 

XXXI.    Lincoln's  funeral    ----•-•       -245 

Appendix  -----•-*•-•-  263 


22400 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Life  Mask  of  Lincoln,  1860 Frontispiece 

Facsimile  of  Fragment  of  First  Inaugural facing     10 

Mary  Todd  Lincoln,  Wife  of  the  President facing     24 

Lincoln  Early  in  1861 facing    40 

Lincoln  in  1861 facing  100 

First  Reading  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  before  the  Cabinet, 

September  20,  1862 between  pages  116-117 

Lincoln  at  McClellan's  Headquarters,  Antietam,  October  3,  1862. 

facing  130 
Grand  Review  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. . .  .between  pages  142-143 

Note  from  Lincoln  to  the  Secretary  of  War 151 

Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  Son  "  Tad  " facing  196 

Legend  Scratched  on  a  Window  Pane  by  J.  Wilkes  Booth 198 

Lincoln  in  1 864 facing  220 

The  Last  Portrait  of  President  Lincoln facing  232 

The  Last  Bit  of  Writing  Done  by  Lincoln 237 

Watching  at  the  Bedside  of  the  Dying  President  on  the  Night  of 

April  14  and  15,  1865 facing  244 


THE  LIFE 

OF 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE    FIRST    INAUGURATION    OF    LINCOLN — THE    RELIEF    OF 

FORT     SUMTER SEWARD^S    AMBITION     TO   CONTROL    THE 

ADMINISTRATION 

DAYBREAK  of  March  4,  1861,  found  the  city  of  Washing 
ton  astir.  The  Senate,  which  had  met  at  seven  o'clock  the 
night  before,  was  still  in  session ;  scores  of  persons  who  had 
come  to  see  the  inauguration  of  the  first  Republican  Presi 
dent,  and  who  had  been  unable  to  find  other  bed  than  the 
floor,  were  walking  the  streets;  the  morning  trains  were 
bringing  new  crowds.  Added  to  the  stir  of  those  who  had 
not  slept  through  the  night  were  sounds  unusual  in  Washing 
ton — the  clatter  of  cavalry,  the  tramp  of  soldiers. 

All  this  morning  bustle  of  the  city  must  have  reached  the 
ears  of  the  President-elect,  at  his  rooms  in  Willard's  Hotel, 
where  from  an  early  hour  he  had  been  at  work.  An  amend 
ment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  had  passed  the 
Senate  in  the  all-night  session,  and  as  it  concerned  the  sub 
ject  of  his  inaugural,  he  must  incorporate  a  reference  to  it  in 
the  address.  Then  he  had  not  replied  to  the  note  he  had 
received  two  days  before  from  Mr.  Seward,  asking  to  be 
released  from  his  promise  to  accept  the  portfolio  of  State. 
He  could  wait  no  longer.  "  I  can't  afford,"  he  said  to  Mr. 
Nicolay,  his  secretary,  "  to  let  Seward  take  the  first  trick." 
And  he  despatched  the  following  letter : 
d) 


LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 


My  dear  Sir  :  Your  note  of  the  2d  instant,  asking  to  with 
draw  your  acceptance  of  my  invitation  to  take  charge  of  the 
State  Department,  was  duly  received.  It  is  the  subject  of 
the  most  painful  solicitude  with  me,  and  I  feel  constrained 
to  beg  that  you  will  countermand  the  withdrawal.  The  pub 
lic  interest,  I  think,  demands  that  you  should;  and  my  per 
sonal  feelings  are  deeply  enlisted  in  the  same  direction. 
Please  consider  and  answer  by  9  A.  M.  to-morrow.  Your 
obedient  servant,  A.  LINCOLN. 

At  noon,  Mr.  Lincoln's  work  was  interrupted.  The  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  was  announced.  Mr.  Buchanan 
had  come  to  escort  his  successor  to  the  Capitol.  The  route  of 
the  procession  was  the  historic  one  over  which  almost  every 
President  since  Jefferson  had  travelled  to  take  his  oath  of 
office  ;  but  the  scene  Mr.  Lincoln  looked  upon  as  his  carriage 
rolled  up  the  avenue  was  very  different  from  that  upon  which 
one  looks  to-day.  No  great  blocks  lined  the  streets  ;  instead, 
the  buildings  were  low,  and  there  were  numerous  vacant 
spaces.  Instead  of  asphalt,  the  carriage  passed  over  cobble 
stones.  Nor  did  the  present  stately  and  beautiful  approach 
to  the  Capitol  exist.  The  west  front  rose  abrupt  and  stiff 
from  an  unkept  lawn.  The  great  building  itself  was  still  un 
completed,  and  high  above  his  head  Mr.  Lincoln  could  see 
the  swinging  arm  of  an  enormous  crane  rising  from  the 
unfinished  dome. 

But,  as  he  drove  that  morning  from  Willard's  to  the  Capi 
tol,  the  President-elect  saw  far  more  significant  sights  than 
these.  Closed  about  his  carriage,  "  so  thickly,"  complained 
the  newspapers,  "  as  to  hide  it  from  view/'  was  a  protecting 
guard.  Stationed  at  intervals  along  the  avenue  were  pla 
toons  of  soldiers.  At  every  corner  were  mounted  orderlies0 
On  the  very  roof-tops  were  groups  of  riflemen.  When  Lin 
coln  reached  the  north  side  of  the  Capitol,  where  he  de 
scended  to  enter  the  building,  he  found  a  board  tunnel, 


THE  FIRST  INAUGURATION  OF  LINCOLN        3 

strongly  guarded  at  its  mouth,  through  which  he  passed  into 
the  building.  If  he  had  taken  pains  to  inquire  what  means 
had  been  provided  for  protecting  his  life  while  in  the  build 
ing,  he  would  have  been  told  that  squads  of  riflemen  were  in 
each  wing;  that  under  the  platform  from  which  he  was  to 
speak  were  fifty  or  sixty  armed  soldiers ;  that  General  Scott 
and  two  batteries  of  flying  artillery  were  in  adjacent  streets; 
and  that  a  ring  of  volunteers  encircled  the  waiting  crowd. 
The  thoroughness  with  which  these  guards  did  their  work 
may  be  judged  by  the  experience  which  Colonel  Clark  E. 
Carr,  of  Illinois,  tells : 

"  I  was  only  a  young  man  then,"  says  Colonel  Carr,  "  and 
this  was  the  first  inauguration  I  had  ever  attended.  I  came 
because  it  was  Lincoln's.  For  three  years  Lincoln  had  been 
my  political  idol,  as  he  had  been  that  of  many  young  men  in 
the  West.  The  first  debate  I  heard  between  him  and  Douglas 
had  converted  me  from  popular  sovereignty,  and  after  that 
I  had  followed  him  all  over  the  State,  so  fascinated  was  I  by 
his  logic,  his  manner,  and  his  character. 

"  Well,  I  went  to  Washington,  but  somehow,  in  the  in 
terest  of  the  procession,  I  failed  to  get  to  the  Capitol  in  time 
to  find  a  place  within  hearing  distance ;  thousands  of  people 
were  packed  between  me  and  the  stand.  I  did  get,  however, 
close  to  the  high  double  fence  which  had  been  built  from  the 
driveway  to  the  north  door.  It  suddenly  occurred  to  me  that, 
if  I  could  scale  that  wall,  I  might  walk  right  in  after  the 
President,  perhaps  on  to  the  very  platform.  It  wasn't  a  min 
ute  before  I  '  shinned  '  up  and  jumped  into  the  tunnel;  but 
before  I  lit  on  my  feet,  a  half  dozen  soldiers  had  me  by  the 
leg  and  arms.  I  suppose  they  thought  I  was  the  agent  of  the 
long-talked-of  plot  to  capture  Washington  and  kill  Mr.  Lin 
coln.  They  searched  me,  and  then  started  me  to  the  mouth 
of  the  tunnel,  to  take  me  to  the  guard-house,  but  the  crowd 
was  so  thick  we  couldn't  get  out.  This  gave  me  time,  and  I 
finally  convinced  them  that  it  was  really  my  eagerness  to 
hear  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  no  evil  intent,  that  had  brought  me  in. 
When  they  finally  came  to  that  conclusion,  they  took  me 


4  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

around  to  one  of  the  basement  doors  on  the  east  side  and  let 
me  out.  I  got  a  place  in  front  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  heard 
every  word." 

The  precautions  taken  against  the  long-threatened  at 
tack  on  Lincoln's  life  produced  various  impressions  on 
the  throng.  Opponents  scornfully  insisted  that  the  new  Ad 
ministration  was  "  scared."  Radical  Republicans  rejoiced. 
"  I  was  thoroughly  convinced  at  the  time,"  says  the  Hon. 
James  Harlan,  at  that  time  a  Senator  from  Iowa,  "that  Mr. 
Lincoln's  enemies  meant  what  they  said,  and  that  Gen 
eral  Scott's  determination  that  the  inauguration  should  go  off 
peaceably  prevented  any  hostile  demonstration."  Other  sup 
porters  of  Mr.  Lincoln  felt  differently. 

"  Nothing  could  have  been  more  ill-advised  or  more  osten 
tatious,"  wrote  the  "  Public  Man  "  that  night  in  his  "  Diary," 
"  than  the  way  in  which  the  troops  were  thrust  everywhere 
upon  the  public  attention,  even  to  the  roofs  of  the  houses 
on  Pennsylvania  avenue,  on  which  little  squads  of  sharp 
shooters  were  absurdly  stationed.  I  never  expected  to  ex 
perience  such  a  sense  of  mortification  and  shame  in  my  own 
country  as  I  felt  to-day,  in  entering  the  Capitol  through 
hedges  of  marines  armed  to  the  teeth.  .  .  .  Fortu 
nately,  all  passed  off  well,  but  it  is  appalling  to  think  of  the 
mischief  which  might  have  been  done  by  a  single  evil-dis 
posed  person  to-day.  A  blank  cartridge  fired  from  a  window 
on  Pennsylvania  avenue  might  have  disconcerted  all  our 
hopes,  and  thrown  the  whole  country  into  inextricable  con 
tusion.  That  nothing  of  the  sort  was  done,  or  even  so  much 
as  attempted,  is  the  most  conclusive  evidence  that  could  be 
asked  of  the  groundlessness  of  the  rumors  and  old  women's 
tales  on  the  strength  of  which  General  Scott  has  been  led  into 
this  great  mistake." 

Arm  in  arm  with  Mr.  Buchanan,  Mr.  Lincoln  passed 


THE  FIRST  INAUGURATION  OF  LINCOLN        5 

through  the  long  tunnel  erected  for  his  protection,  entered 
the  Capitol,  and  passed  into  the  Senate  Chamber,  filled  to 
overflowing  with  Senators,  members  of  the  Diplomatic 
Corps,  and  visitors.  The  contrast  between  the  two  men  as 
they  entered  struck  every  observer.  "  Mr.  Buchanan  was  so 
withered  and  bowed  with  age,"  wrote  George  W.  Julian,  of 
Indiana,  who  was  among  the  spectators,  "  that  in  contrast 
with  the  towering  form  of  Mr.  Lincoln  he  seemed  little  more 
than  half  a  man." 

A  few  moments'  delay,  and  the  movement  from  the  Senate 
towards  the  east  front  began,  the  justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  in  cap  and  gown,  heading  the  procession.  As  soon 
as  the  large  company  was  seated  on  the  platform  erected  on 
the  east  portico  of  the  Capitol,  Mr.  Lincoln  arose  and  ad 
vanced  to  the  front,  where  he  was  introduced  by  his  friend, 
Senator  Baker,  of  Oregon.  He  carried  a  cane  and  a  little 
roll — the  manuscript  of  his  inaugural  address.  There  was 
a  moment's  pause  after  the  introduction,  as  he  vainly  looked 
for  a  spot  where  he  might  place  his  high  silk  hat.  Stephen 
A.  Douglas,  the  political  antagonist  of  his  whole  public  life, 
the  man  who  had  pressed  him  hardest  in  the  campaign  of 
1860,  was  seated  just  behind  him.  Douglas  stepped  forward 
quickly,  and  took  the  hat  which  Mr.  Lincoln  held  helplessly 
in  his  hand.  "  If  I  can't  be  President,"  he  whispered  smil 
ingly  to  Mrs.  Brown,  a  cousin  of  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  a  mem 
ber  of  the  President's  party,  "  I  at  least  can  hold  his  hat." 

This  simple  act  of  courtesy  was  really  the  most  significant 
incident  of  the  day,  and  after  the  inaugural  the  most  dis 
cussed. 

"  Douglas's  conduct  can  not  be  overpraised,"  wrote  the 
"  Public  Man  "  in  his  "  Diary."  "  I  saw  him  for  a  moment 
in  the  morning,  when  he  told  me  that  he  meant  to  put  him 
self  as  prominently  forward  in  the  ceremonies  as  he  properly 
could,  and  to  leave  no  doubt  on  any  one's  mind  of  his  de- 


6  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

termination  to  stand  by  the  new  Administration  in  the  per 
formance  of  its  first  great  duty  to  maintain  the  Union." 

Adjusting  his  spectacles  and  unrolling  his  manuscript,  the 
President-elect  turned  his  eyes  upon  the  faces  of  the  throng 
before  him.  It  was  the  largest  gathering  that  had  been  seen 
at  any  inauguration  up  to  that  date,  variously  estimated  at 
from  fifty  thousand  to  one  hundred  thousand.  Who  of  the 
men  that  composed  it  were  his  friends,  who  his  enemies,  he 
could  not  tell;  but  he  did  know  that  almost  every  one  of 
them  was  waiting  with  painful  eagerness  to  hear  what 
answer  he  would  make  there  to  the  questions  they  had  been 
hurling  at  his  head  since  his  election. 

Six  weeks  before,  when  he  wrote  the  document,  he  had 
determined  to  answer  some  of  their  questions.  The  first  of 
these  was,  "  Will  Mr.  Lincoln  stand  by  the  platform  of  the 
Republican  party  ?  "  He  meant  to  open  his  address  with  this 
reply: 

The  [more]  modern  custom  of  electing  a  Chief  Magistrate 
upon  a  previously  declared  platform  of  principles  supersedes, 
in  a  great  measure,  the  necessity  of  restating  those  principles 
in  an  address  of  this  sort.  Upon  the  plainest  grounds  of 
good  faith,  one  so  elected  is  not  at  liberty  to  shift  his  posi 
tion 

Having  been  so  elected  upon  the  Chicago  platform,  and 
while  I  would  repeat  nothing  in  it  of  aspersion  or  epithet  or 
question  of  motive  against  any  man  or  party,  I  hold  myself 
bound  by  duty,  as  well  as  impelled  by  inclination,  to  follow, 
within  the  executive  sphere,  the  principles  therein  declared. 
By  no  other  course  could  I  meet  the  reasonable  expectations 
of  the  country. 

But  these  paragraphs  were  not  read.  On  reaching  Wash 
ington  in  February,  Mr.  Lincoln's  first  act  had  been  to  give 
to  Mr.  Seward  a  copy  of  the  paper  he  had  prepared,  and  to 
ask  for  his  criticisms.  Of  the  paragraphs  quoted  above,  Mr. 
Seward  wrote : 


THE  FIRST  INAUGURATION  OF  LINCOLN        ^ 

I  declare  to  you  my  conviction  that  the  second  and  third 
paragraphs,  even  if  modified  as  I  propose  in  my  amendments, 
will  give  such  advantages  to  the  Disunionists  that  Virginia 
and  Maryland  will  secede,  and  we  shall,  within  ninety,  per 
haps  within  sixty,  days,  be  obliged  to  fight  the  South  for  this 
Capital,  with  a  divided  North  for  our  reliance. 

Mr.  Lincoln  dropped  the  paragraphs,  and  began  by  an 
swering  another  question :  "  Does  the  President  intend  to 
interfere  with  the  property  of  the  South  ?  " 

"  Apprehension  seems  to  exist,"  he  said,  "  among  the  peo 
ple  of  the  Southern  States  that  by  the  accession  of  a  Repub 
lican  administration  their  property  and  their  peace  and  per 
sonal  security  are  to  be  endangered.  There  has  never  been 
any  reasonable  cause  for  such  apprehension.  Indeed,  the 
most  ample  evidence  to  the  contrary  has  all  the  while  existed 
and  been  open  to  their  inspection.  It  is  found  in  nearly  all 
the  published  speeches  of  him  who  now  addresses  you.  I 
do  but  quote  from  one  of  those  speeches  when  I  declare  that 
'  I  have  no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere  with 
the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  exists.  I 
believe  I  have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so,  and  I  have  no  inclina 
tion  to  do  so.  Those  who  nominated  and  elected  me  did  so 
with  full  knowledge  that  I  had  made  this  and  many  similar 
declarations,  and  had  never  recanted  them." 

He  followed  this  conciliatory  statement  by  a  full  answer 
to  the  question,  "  Will  Mr.  Lincoln  repeal  the  fugitive  slave 
laws?" 

"  There  is  much  controversy  about  the  delivering  up  of 
fugitives  from  service  or  labor.  The  clause  I  now  read  is  as 
plainly  written  in  the  Constitution  as  any  other  of  its  pro 
visions  : 

"  '  No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State,  under 
the  laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall  in  consequence 
of  any  law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such 
service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the 
party  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be  due/ 

"  It  is  scarcely  questioned  that  this  provision  was  intended 


8  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

by  those  who  made  it  for  the  reclaiming  of  what  we  call 
fugitive  slaves,  and  the  intention  of  the  lawgiver  is  the  law. 
All  members  of  Congress  swear  their  support  to  the  whole 
Constitution — to  this  provision  as  much  as  to  any  other.  To 
the  proposition,  then,  that  slaves  whose  cases  come  within 
the  terms  of  this  clause  '  shall  be  delivered  up/  their  oaths  are 
unanimous.  " 

Next  he  took  up  the  question  of  Secession,  "  Has  a  State 
the  right  to  go  out  of  the  Union  if  it  wants  to  ?  " 

I  hold  that,  in  contemplation  of  universal  law  and  of 
the  Constitution,  the  Union  of  these  States  is  perpetual. 
Perpetuity  is  implied,  if  not  expressed,  in  the  fundamental 
law  of  all  national  governments.  It  is  safe  to  assert  that  no 
government  proper  ever  had  a  provision  in  its  organic  law 
for  its  own  termination.  .  .  .  Again,  if  the  United 
States  be  not  a  government  proper,  but  an  association  of 
States  in  the  nature  of  contract  merely,  can  it,  as  a  contract, 
be  peaceably  unmade  by  less  than  all  the  parties  who  made 
it?  One  party  to  a  contract  may  violate  it — break  it,  so  to 
speak;  but  does  it  not  require  all  to  lawfully  rescind  it? 
.  .  .  It  follows  from  these  views  that  no  State,  upon  its 
own  mere  motion,  can  lawfully  get  out  of  the  Union;  that 
resolves  and  ordinances  to  that  effect  are  legally  void;  and 
that  acts  of  violence,  within  any  State  or  States,  against  the 
authority  of  the  United  States,  are  insurrectionary  or  revolu 
tionary,  according  to  circumstances. 

The  answer  to  this  question  led  him  directly  to  the  point 
on  which  the  public  was  most  deeply  stirred  at  that  moment. 
What  did  he  intend  to  do  about  enforcing  laws  in  States 
which  had  repudiated  Federal  authority;  what  about  the 
property  seized  by  the  Southern  States  ? 

" ....  to  the  extent  of  my  ability,"  he  answered, 
"  I  shall  take  care,  as  the  Constitution  itself  expressly  enjoins 
upon  me,  that  the  laws  of  the  Union  be  faithfully  executed 
in  all  the  States.  Doing  this  I  deem  to  be  only  a  simple  duty 
on  my  part ;  and  I  shall  perform  it  so  far  as  practicable,  un- 


THE  FIRST  INAUGURATION  OP  LINCOLN        9 

less  my  rightful  masters,  the  American  people,  shall  with 
hold  the  requisite  means,  or  in  some  authoritative  manner 
direct  the  contrary.  I  trust  this  will  not  be  regarded  as  a 
menace,  but  only  as  the  declared  purpose  of  the  Union  that 
it  will  constitutionally  defend  and  maintain  itself. 

"  In  doing  this  there  needs  to  be  no  bloodshed  or  violence ; 
and  there  shall  be  none,  unless  it  be  forced  upon  the  national 
authority.  The  power  confided  to  me  will  be  used  to 
hold,  occupy,  and  possess  the  property  and  places  belonging 
to  the  government,  and  to  collect  the  duties  and  imposts ;  but 
beyond  what  may  be  necessary  for  these  objects,  there  will 
be  no  invasion,  no  using  of  force  against  or  among  the  people 
anywhere." 

In  his  original  copy  of  the  inaugural  address  Mr.  Lincoln 
wrote,  "  All  the  power  at  my  disposal  will  be  used  to  reclaim 
the  public  property  and  places  which  have  fallen;  to  hold,  oc 
cupy,  and  possess  these,  and  all  other  property  and  places  be 
longing  to  the  government."  At  the  suggestion  of  his  friend, 
the  Hon.  O.  H.  Browning,  of  Illinois,  he  dropped  the  words 
"  to  reclaim  the  public  property  and  places  which  have 
fallen."  Mr.  Seward  disapproved  of  the  entire  selection  and 
prepared  a  non-committal  substitute.  Mr.  Lincoln,  how 
ever,  retained  his  own  sentences. 

The  foregoing  quotations  are  a  fairly  complete  expression 
of  what  may  be  called  Mr.  Lincoln's  policy  at  the  beginning 
of  his  administration.  He  followed  this  statement  of  his 
principle  by  an  appeal  and  a  warning  to  those  who  really 
loved  the  Union  and  who  yet  were  ready  for  the  "  destruc 
tion  of  the  national  fabric  with  all  its  benefits,  its  memories 
and  its  hopes." 

"  Will  you  hazard  so  desperate  a  step  while  there  is  any 
possibility  that  any  portion  of  the  ills  you  fly  from  have  no 
real  existence  ?  Will  you,  while  the  certain  ills  you  fly  to  are 
greater  than  all  the  real  ones  you  fly  from — will  you  risk  the 
commission  of  so  fearful  a  mistake  ? 


10  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

"  Physically  speaking,  we  cannot  separate.  We  cannot  re 
move  our  respective  sections  from  each  other,  nor  build  an 
impassable  wall  between  them.  A  husband  and  wife  may 
be  divorced,  and  go  out  of  the  presence  and  beyond  the  reach 
of  each  other;  but  the  different  parts  of  our  country  cannot 
do  this.  They  cannot  but  remain  face  to  face,  and  inter 
course,  either  amicable  or  hostile,  must  continue  between 
them.  Is  it  possible,  then,  to  make  that  intercourse  more 
advantageous  or  more  satisfactory  after  separation  than  be 
fore?  Can  aliens  make  treaties  easier  than  friends  can 
make  laws?  Can  treaties  be  more  faithfully  enforced  be 
tween  aliens  than  laws  can  among  friends?  Suppose  you 
go  to  war,  you  cannot  fight  always;  and  when,  after  much 
loss  on  both  sides,  and  no  gain  on  either,  you  cease  fighting, 
the  identical  old  questions  as  to  terms  of  intercourse  are 
again  upon  you 

Why  should  there  not  be  a  patient  confidence  in  the  ulti 
mate  justice  of  the  people  ?  Is  there  any  better  or  equal  hope 
in  the  world  ?  In  our  present  differences  is  either  party  with 
out  faith  of  being  in  the  right?  If  the  Almighty  Ruler  of 
Nations,  with  His  eternal  truth  and  justice,  be  on  your  side 
of  the  North,  or  on  yours  of  the  South,  that  truth  and  that 
justice  will  surely  prevail  by  the  judgment  of  this  great 
tribunal  of  the  American  people 

My  countrymen,  one  and  all,  think  calmly  and  well  upon 
this  whole  subject.  Nothing  valuable  can  be  lost  by  taking 
time.  If  there  be  an  object  to  HURRY  any  of  you  in  hot  haste 
to  a  step  which  you  would  never  take  deliberately,  that  ob 
ject  will  be  frustrated  by  taking  time;  but  no  good  object 
can  be  frustrated  by  it.  Such  of  you  as  are  now  dissatisfied, 
still  have  the  old  Constitution  unimpaired,  and,  on  the  sen- 
sitive  point,  the  laws  of  your  own  framing  under  it ;  while 
the  new  administration  will  have  no  immediate  power,  if  it 
would,  to  change  either.  If  it  were  admitted  that  you  who 
are  dissatisfied  hold  the  right  side  in  the  dispute,  there  still 
is  no  single  good  reason  for  precipitate  action.  Intelligence, 
patriotism,  Christianity,  and  a  firm  reliance  on  Him  who  has 
never  yet  forsaken  this  favored  land,  are  still  competent  to 
adjust  in  the  best  way  all  our  present  difficulty. 

In  YOUR  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-countrymen,  and 


While  the  people  remain  patient,  and  true  to  themselves,  no  man,  even  in  the  pres 
idential  chair,  by  any  extreme  of  wickedness  or  folly,  can  very  seriously  injure  the 
government  in  the  short  space  of  four  years. 

B&-  My  countrymen,  one  and  all,  take  time  and  think  well,  upon  this  whole  sub 
ject.  Nothing  valuable  can  be  lost  by  taking  time.  Nothing  worth  preserving  is 
either  breaking  or  burning.  If  there  be  an  Object  to  Jiurry  any  of  you,  in  hot  haste, 
to  a  step  which  you  would  never  take  deliberately,  that  object  will  be  frustrated  by 
taking  time;  but  no  good  object  can  be  frustrated  by  it.  Such  of  you  as  are  now 
dissatisfied,  still  have  the  old  Constitution  unimpaired,  and,  on  the  sensitive  point,  the 
laws  of  your  own  framing  under  it;  while  the  new  administration  will  have  no  imme 
diate  power,  if  it  would,  to  change  either.  If  it -were  admitted  that  you  who  are 
dissatisfied,  hold  the  right  side  in  the  dispute,  there  still  is  no  single  good  reason  for 
precipitate  action.  Intelligence,  patriotism,  Christianity,  and  a  firm  reliance  on  Him, 
who  has  never  yet  forsaken  this  favored  land,  are  still  competent  to  adjust,  in  the  best 
way,  all  our  present  difficulty. 

In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow  countrymen,  and  not  in  mine,  is  the  moment 
ous  issue  of  civil  war.  The  government  will  not  assail  you,  unless  you  first  assail  it. 
You  can  have  no  conflict,  without  being  yourselves  the  aggressors.  Toi^have  no  oath 
registered  in  Heaven  to  destroy  the  government,  while /shall  have  the  most  solemn  one 
to  "preserve,  protect  and  defend"  it.  You  can forbear  the  assault  upon  it;  /can  not 
shrink  from  the  defense  of  it.  With  you,  and  not  with  me,  is  the  solemn  question  of 

"  Shall  it  be  peace,  or  a  sword?*' 

In  compliance  with  a  custom  as  old  as  the  government  itself,  I  appear  before  you 

to  address  you  briefly,  and  to  take,  in  your  presence,  the  oath  prescribed  by  the  Con- 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  to  be  taken  by  the  President  "before  he  enters  on  the 
execution  of  his  oflice." 

»•«*••••«••• 

I  do  not  consider  it  necessary  at  present  for  me  to  say  more  than  I  have,  in  relation 
to  those  matters  of  administration,  about  which  there  is  no  special  excitement. 

8®"Apprehension  seems  to  exist  among  the  people  of  the  Southern  States,  that  by 
the  accession  of  a  Republican  Administration,  their  property,  and  their  peace,  and  per- 


FACSIMILE     FROM     ABRAHAM     LINCOLN'S     FIRST     INAUGURAL     ADDRESS. 


THE  FIRST  INAUGURATION  OF  LINCOLN      II 

not  in  MINE  is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war.  The  gov 
ernment  will  not  assail  YOU.  You  can  have  no  conflict  with 
out  being  yourselves  the  aggressors.  You  have  no  oath 
registered  in  heaven  to  destroy  the  government,  while  / 
shall  have  the  most  solemn  one  to  "  preserve,  protect,  and 
defend  it." 

With  this  last  paragraph  Mr.  Lincoln  had  meant  to  close 
this  his  first  address  to  the  nation.  Mr.  Seward  objected, 
and  submitted  two  suggestions  for  a  closing;  one  of  his 
paragraphs  read  as  follows : 

I  close.  We  are  not,  we  must  not  be,  aliens  or  enemies, 
but  fellow-countrymen  and  brethren.  Although  passion  has 
strained  our  bonds  of  affection  too  hardly,  they  must  not,  I 
am  sure  they  will  not  be  broken.  The  mystic  chords  which, 
proceeding  from  so  many  battlefields  and  so  many  patriotic 
graves,  pass  through  all  the  hearts  and  all  hearths  in  this 
broad  continent  of  ours,  will  yet  again  harmonize  in  their 
ancient  music  when  breathed  upon  by  the  guardian  angel  of 
the  nation. 

Mr.  Lincoln  made  a  few  changes  in  the  paragraphs  quoted, 
and  rewrote  the  above  suggestion  of  Mr.  Seward,  making  of 
it  the  now  famous  closing  words  :* 

I  am  loath  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends.  We 
must  not  be  enemies.  Though  passion  may  have  strained,  it 
must  not  break  our  bonds  of  affection.  The  mystic  chords 
of  memory,  stretching  from  every  battlefield  and  patriot 
grave  to  every  living  heart  and  hearthstone  all  over  this 
broad  land,  will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union  when 
again  touched,  as  surely  they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of 
our  nature. 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  read  his  inaugural,"  says  Mr.  Harlan  in 
his  unpublished  "  Recollections  of  Abraham  Lincoln,"  "  in 

*  The  reader  interested  in  the  first  inaugural  of  Mr.  Lincoln  should 
not  fail  to  read  the  admirable  chapter  on  the  subject  in  Vol.  III.  of 
Nicolay  and  Hay's  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  where  Mr.  Seward's  criti 
cisms  are  given  in  full. 


12  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

a  clear,  distinct,  and  musical  voice,  which  seemed  to  be  heard 
and  distinctly  understood  to  the  very  outskirts  of  this  vast 
concourse  of  his  fellow-citizens.  At  its  conclusion,  he  turned 
partially  around  on  his  left,  facing  the  justices  of  the  Su 
preme  Court,  and  said,  '  I  am  now  ready  to  take  the  oath 
prescribed  by  the  Constitution/  which  was  then  administered 
by  Chief  Justice  Taney,  the  President  saluting  the  Bible  with 
his  lips. 

"  At  that  moment,  in  response  to  a  signal,  batteries  of  field 
guns,  stationed  a  mile  or  so  away,  commenced  firing  a  na 
tional  salute,  in  honor  of  the  nation's  new  chief.  And  Mr. 
Buchanan,  now  a  private  citizen,  escorted  President  Lincoln 
to  the  Executive  Mansion,  followed  by  a  multitude  of  peo- 
pie." 

"  What  do  you  think  of  it  ?  "  was  the  question  this  crowd 
was  asking  as  it  left  the  scene  of  the  inauguration.  Through 
out  the  day,  on  every  corner  of  Washington,  and  by  night  on 
every  corner  of  New  York,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Buffalo, 
and  every  other  city  and  town  of  the  country  reached  by  the 
telegraph,  men  were  asking  the  same  question.  The  an 
swers  showed  that  the  address  was  not  the  equivocal  docu 
ment  Mr.  Seward  had  tried  to  make  it. 

"  It  is  marked,"  said  the  New  York  "  Tribune  "  of  March 
5,  "  by  no  feeble  expression.  '  He  who  runs  may  read  '  it; 
and  to  twenty  millions  of  people  it  will  carry  the  tidings, 
good  or  not,  as  the  case  may  be,  that  the  Federal  Government 
of  the  United  States  is  still  in  existence,  with  a  Man  at  the 
head  of  it." 

"  The  inaugural  is  not  a  crude  performance,"  said  the  New 
York  "  Herald ;  "  "  it  abounds  in  traits  of  craft  and  cun 
ning  ;  it  is  neither  candid  nor  statesmanlike,  nor  does  it  pos 
sess  any  essential  of  dignity  or  patriotism.  It  would  have 
caused  a  Washington  to  mourn,  and  would  have  inspired 
Jefferson,  Madison,  or  Jackson  with  contempt." 

"  Our  community  has  not  been  disappointed,  and  exhibited 


THE  FIRST  INAUGURATION  OP  LINCOLN       13 

very  little  feeling  on  the  subject,"  telegraphed  Charleston, 
South  Carolina.  "  They  are  content  to  leave  Mr.  Lincoln 
and  the  inaugural  in  the  hands  of  Jefferson  Davis  and  the 
Congress  of  the  Confederate  States." 

"  The  Pennsylvanian  "  declared  it  "  a  tiger's  claw  con 
cealed  under  the  fur  of  Sewardism."  While  "  The  Atlas 
and  Argus,"  of  Albany,  characterized  it  as  "  weak,  rambling, 
loose-jointed,"  and  as  "  inviting  civil  war." 

From  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  came  the  dispatch, 
"  Our  community  has  not  been  disappointed,  and  exhibited 
very  little  feeling  on  the  subject.  They  are  content  to  leave 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  inaugural  in  the  hands  of  Jefferson 
Davis  and  the  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States."  In  New 
Orleans  the  assertion  that  the  ordinance  was  void  and  that 
Federal  property  must  be  taken  and  held  was  considered  a 
declaration  of  war.  At  Montgomery  the  head  of  the  Con 
federacy,  the  universal  feeling  provoked  by  the  inaugural  was 
that  war  was  inevitable. 

The  literary  form  of  the  document  aroused  general  com 
ment. 

"  The  style  of  the  address  is  as  characteristic  as  its  tem 
per,"  said  the  Boston  "  Transcript."  "  It  has  not  one  fawn 
ing  expression  in  the  whole  course  of  its  firm  and  explicit 
statements.  The  language  is  level  to  the  popular  mind — the 
plain,  homespun  language  of  a  man  accustomed  to  talk  with 
*  the  folks  '  and  '  the  neighbors; '  the  language  of  a  man  of 
vital  common-sense,  whose  words  exactly  fit  in  his  facts  and 
thoughts." 

This  "  homespun  language  "  was  a  shock  to  many.  The 
Toronto  "  Globe  "  found  the  address  of  "  a  tawdry,  corrupt, 
school-boy  style."  And  ex-President  Tyler  complained  to 
Francis  Lieber  of  its  grammar.  Lieber  replied : 

"  You  complain  of  the  bad  grammar  of  President  Lin 
coln's  message.  We  have  to  look  at  other  things,  just  now, 


14  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

than  grammar.  For  aught  I  know,  the  last  resolution  of  the 
South  Carolina  Convention  may  have  been  worded  in  suffi 
ciently  good  grammar,  but  it  is  an  attempt,  unique  in  its  dis- 
gracefulness,  to  whitewash  an  act  of  the  dirtiest  infamy. 
Let  us  leave  grammar  alone  in  these  days  of  shame,  and 
rather  ask  whether  people  act  according  to  the  first  and 
simplest  rules  of  morals  and  of  honor." 

The  question  which  most  deeply  stirred  the  country,  how 
ever,  was  "  Does  Lincoln  mean  what  he  says  ?  Will  he  really 
use  the  power  confided  to  him  to  hold,  occupy,  and  possess 
the  property  and  places  belonging  to  the  government  ?  "  The 
President  was  called  upon  for  an  answer  sooner  than  he  had 
expected.  Almost  the  first  thing  brought  to  his  attention  on 
the  morning  of  his  first  full  day  in  office  (March  5)  was 
a  letter  from  Major  Robert  Anderson,  the  officer  in  command 
of  Fort  Sumter  in  Charleston  Harbor,  saying  that  he  had 
but  a  week's  provisions,  and  that  if  the  place  was  to  be  re-en 
forced  so  that  it  could  be  held,  it  would  take  20,000  "  good 
and  well-disciplined  men  "  to  do  it. 

A  graver  matter  the  new  President  could  not  have  been 
called  upon  to  decide,  for  all  the  issues  between  North  and 
South  were  at  that  moment  focused  in  the  fate  of  Fort  Sum 
ter.  A  series  of  dramatic  incidents  had  given  the  fort  this 
peculiar  prominence.  At  the  time  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  election 
Charleston  Harbor  was  commanded  by  Major  Anderson. 
Although  there  were  three  forts  in  the  harbor,  but  one  was 
garrisoned,  Fort  Moultrie,  and  that  not  the  strongest  in  posi 
tion.  Not  long  after  the  election  Anderson,  himself  a  South 
erner,  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  feeling  in  Charleston, 
wrote  the  War  Department  that  if  the  harbor  was  to  be  held 
by  the  United  States,  Fort  Sumter  and  Castle  Pinckey  must 
be  garrisoned.  Later  he  repeated  this  warning.  President 
Buchanan  was  loath  to  heed  him.  He  feared  irritating  the 
South  Carolinians.  Instead  of  re-enforcements  he  sent  An- 


THE  FIRST  INAUGURATION  OF  LINCOLN      15 

derson  orders  to  hold  the  forts  but  to  do  nothing  which 
would  cause  a  collision.  At  the  same  time  he  entered  into  a 
half-contract  with  the  South  Carolina  Congressmen  not  to 
re-enforce  Anderson  if  the  State  did  not  attack  him.  All 
through  the  early  winter  Anderson  remained  in  Moultrie, 
his  position  constantly  becoming  more  dangerous.  Interest 
in  him  increased  with  his  peril,  and  the  discussion  as  to 
whether  the  government  should  relieve,  recall,  or  let  him 
alone,  waxed  more  and  more  excited. 

Anderson  had  seen  from  the  first  that  if  the  South  Caro 
linians  attempted  to  seize  Moultrie  he  could  not  sustain  his 
position.  Accordingly,  on  the  night  of  December  26  he 
spiked  the  guns  of  that  fort  and  secretly  transferred  his  force 
to  Sumter,  an  almost  impregnable  position  in  the  centre  of 
the  harbor.  In  the  South  the  uproar  over  this  act  was  terrific. 
The  administration  was  accused  of  treachery.  It  in  turn  cen 
sured  Anderson,  though  he  had  acted  exactly  within  his  or 
ders  which  gave  him  the  right  to  occupy  whichever  fort  he 
thought  best.  In  the  North  there  was  an  outburst  of  exulta 
tion.  It  was  the  first  act  in  defense  of  United  States  prop 
erty,  and  Anderson  became  at  once  a  popular  hero  and  re- 
enforcements  for  him  were  vehemently  demanded. 

Early  in  January  Buchanan  yielded  to  the  pressure  and 
sent  the  Star  of  the  West  with  supplies.  The  vessel  was 
fired  on  by  the  South  Carolinians  as  she  entered  the  harbor, 
and  retired.  This  hostile  act  did  not  quicken  the  sluggish 
blood  of  the  administration.  Indeed,  a  quasi-agreement  with 
the  Governor  followed,  that  if  the  fort  was  not  attacked  no 
further  attempt  would  be  made  to  re-enforce  it,  and  there  the 
matter  stood  when  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  morning  of  March  5 
received  Anderson's  letter. 

What  was  to  be  done?  The  garrison  must  not  be  allowed 
to  starve ;  but  evidently  20,000  disciplined  men  could  not  be 
had  to  relieve  it — the  whole  United  States  army  numbered 


16  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

but  16,000.  But  if  Mr.  Lincoln  could  not  relieve  it,  how 
could  he  surrender  it  ?  The  effect  of  any  weakening  or  com 
promise  in  his  own  position  was  perfectly  clear  to  him. 
"  When  Anderson  goes  out  of  Fort  Sumter,"  he  said  rue 
fully,  "I  shall  have  to  go  out  of  the  White  House."  The  exact 
way  in  which  he  looked  at  the  matter  he  stated  later  to  Con 
gress,  in  substantially  the  following  words : 

To  abandon  that  position,  under  the  circumstances,  would 
have  been  utterly  ruinous ;  the  necessity  under  which  it  was 
done  would  not  have  been  fully  understood;  by  many  it 
would  have  been  construed  as  a  part  of  a  voluntary  policy ;  at 
home  it  would  have  discouraged  the  friends  of  the  Union, 
emboldened  its  adversaries,  and  gone  far  to  insure  to  the 
latter  a  recognition  abroad ;  in  fact,  it  would  have  been  our 
national  destruction  consummated.  This  could  not  be  al 
lowed. 

In  his  dilemma  he  sought  the  advice  of  the  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  Army,  General  Scott,  who  told  him  sadly  that 
"  evacuation  seemed  almost  inevitable." 

Unwilling  to  decide  at  once,  Lincoln  devised  a  manoeuvre 
by  which  he  hoped  to  shift  public  attention  from  Fort  Sumter 
to  Fort  Pickens,  in  Pensacola  Harbor.  The  situation  of  the 
two  forts  was  similar,  although  that  at  Sumter  was  more 
critical  and  interested  the  public  far  more  intensely.  It 
seemed  to  Mr.  Lincoln  that  if  Fort  Pickens  could  be  re-en 
forced,  this  would  be  a  clear  enough  indication  to  both  sec 
tions  that  he  meant  what  he  had  said  in  his  inaugural  ad 
dress,  and  after  it  had  been  accomplished  the  North  would 
accept  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter  as  a  military  necessity, 
and  on  March  II  he  sent  an  order  that  troops  which  had 
been  sent  to  Pensacola  in  January  by  Mr.  Buchanan,  but 
never  landed,  should  be  placed  in  Fort  Pickens. 

As  this  order  went  by  sea,  it  was  necessarily  some  time 
before  it  arrived.  Night  and  day  during  this  interval  Lin- 


THE  FIRST  INAUGURATION  OF  LINCOLN      lj 

coin  was  busy  in  a  series  of  original  investigations  of  all  sides 
of  the  Sumter  question.  While  doing  his  utmost  to  obtain 
such  information  as  would  enable  him  to  come  to  an  intelli* 
gent  conclusion,  he  was  beset  by  both  North  and  South.  A 
report  went  out  early  in  the  month  that  Sumter  was  to  be 
evacuated.  It  could  not  be  verified ;  but  it  spread  generally 
until  there  was,  particularly  in  Washington,  around  Mr.  Lin 
coln,  a  fever  of  excitement.  Finally,  on  March  25,  the 
Senate  asked  for  the  correspondence  of  Anderson.  The 
President  did  not  believe  the  time  had  come,  however,  to  take 
the  public  into  his  confidence,  and  he  replied : 

.  .  .  On  examination  of  the  correspondence  thus  called 
for,  I  have,  with  the  highest  respect  for  the  Senate,  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  at  the  present  moment  the  publication  of 
it  would  be  inexpedient. 

Three  days  later,  March  28,  while  he  still  was  uncertain 
whether  his  order  had  reached  Fort  Pickens  or  not,  General 
Scott,  who  was  ill,  sent  a  letter  over  to  the  White  House, 
advising  Mr.  Lincoln  to  abandon  both  Sumter  and  Pickens. 
Coming  from  such  a  source,  the  letter  was  a  heavy  blow  to 
the  President.  One  of  the  men  he  most  trusted  had  failed  to 
recognize  that  the  policy  he  had  laid  down  in  his  inaugural 
address  was  serious  and  intended  to  be  acted  upon.  It  was 
time  to  do  something.  Summoning  an  officer  from  the  Navy 
Department,  he  asked  him  to  prepare  at  once  a  plan  for  a 
relief  expedition  to  Fort  Sumter.  That  night  Mr.  Lincoln 
gave  his  first  state  dinner.  It  was  a  large  affair,  many 
friends  besides  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  being  present. 
The  conversation  was  animated,  and  Lincoln  was  seemingly 
in  excellent  spirits.  W.  H.  Russell,  the  correspondent  of  the 
London  "Times,"  was  present,  and  he  notes  in  his  Diary  how 
Lincoln  used  anecdotes  in  his  conversation  that  evening : 
(*) 


18  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

"  Mr.  Bates  was  remonstrating,  apparently,  against  the 
appointment  of  some  indifferent  lawyer  to  a  place  of  judicial 
importance,"  says  Mr.  Russell.  "  The  President  interposed 
with,  '  Come  now,  Bates,  he's  not  half  as  bad  as  you 
think.  Besides  that,  I  must  tell  you  he  did  me  a  good  turn 
long  ago.  When  I  took  to  the  law,  I  was  going  to  court  one 
morning,  with  some  ten  or  twelve  miles  of  bad  road  before 
me,  and  I  had  no  horse.  The  judge  overtook  me  in  his 
wagon.  '  Hello,  Lincoln !  Are  you  not  going  to  the  court 
house?  Come  in,  and  I'll  give  you  a  seat/  Well,  I  got  in, 
and  the  judge  went  on  reading  his  papers.  Presently  the 
wagon  struck  a  stump  on  one  side  of  the  road ;  then  it  hopped 
off  to  the  other.  I  looked  out,  and  I  saw  the  driver  was 
jerking  from  side  to  side  in  his  seat;  so  says  I,  'Judge,  I 
think  your  coachman  has  been  taking  a  little  drop  too  much 
this  morning/  '  Well,  I  declare,  Lincoln/  said  he,  '  I  should 
not  wonder  if  you  are  right ;  for  he  has  nearly  upset  me  half  a 
dozen  times  since  starting/  So  putting  his  head  out  of  the 
window,  he  shouted,  *  Why,  you  infernal  scoundrel,  you  are 
drunk ! '  Upon  which,  pulling  up  his  horses,  and  turning 
round  with  great  gravity,  the  coachman  said,  '  By  gorra ! 
that's  the  first  rightful  decision  you  have  given  for  the  last 
twelvemonth/  While  the  company  were  laughing,  the  Pres 
ident  beat  a  quiet  retreat  from  the  neighborhood  of  the  At 
torney-General  . ' ' 

Lincoln's  story-telling  that  evening  was  used,  as  often  hap 
pened,  to  cover  a  serious  mental  struggle.  After  many  of 
his  guests  had  retired,  he  called  his  Cabinet  aside,  and  agi 
tatedly  told  them  of  General  Scott's  letter.  He  then  asked 
them  to  meet  him  the  next  day.  That  night  the  President 
did  not  close  his  eyes  in  sleep.  The  moment  had  come,  as  it 
must  come,  at  one  time  or  another,  to  every  President 
of  the  United  States,  when  his  vote  was  the  only  vote  in  the 
Cabinet — the  only  vote  in  the  country.  The  decision  and 
orders  he  should  give  the  next  day  might  plunge  the  country 
into  civil  war.  Could  he  escape  it  ?  All  night  he  went  over 
the  problem,  but  his  watch  only  strengthened  his  purpose. 


THE  FIRST  INAUGURATION  OF  LINCOLN     19 

When  the  Cabinet  met,  the  President  put  the  case  before 
them  in  such  a  light  that,  on  his  asking  the  members  to  give 
him  their  views,  only  two,  Seward  and  Smith,  opposed  the 
relief  of  Fort  Sumter. 

That  day  Lincoln  gave  his  order  that  the  expedition  be 
prepared  and  ready  to  sail  on  April  6.  Two  days  later,  he 
ordered  that  an  expedition  for  the  relief  of  Fort  Pickens  be 
prepared.  With  the  latter  order  he  sent  a  verbal  message  to 
General  Scott : 

Tell  him  that  I  wish  this  thing  done,  and  not  to  let  it  fail 
unless  he  can  show  that  I  have  refused  him  something  he 
asked  for. 

By  April  6,  news  reached  Mr.  Lincoln  from  Fort  Pick- 
ens.  The  commander  of  the  vessel  on  which  the  troops  were 
quartered,  acting  upon  the  armistice  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  had 
refused  to  land  the  re-enforcements.  To  relieve  Sumter  was 
the  only  alternative,  and  Lincoln  immediately  ordered  for 
ward  the  expeditions  he  had  been  preparing.  At  the  same 
time  he  wrote  with  his  own  hand  instructions  for  an  agent 
whom  he  sent  to  Charleston  to  notify  the  Governor  of  South 
Carolina  that  an  effort  would  be  made  to  supply  Fort  Sumter 
with  provisions  only. 

At  last  it  was  evident  to  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  and  to 
others  in  the  secret  that  Mr.  Lincoln  did  mean  what  he  had 
said  in  his  inaugural  address :  :'  The  power  confided  to  me 
will  be  used  to  hold,  occupy,  and  possess  the  property  and 
places  belonging  to  the  government." 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  another  matter  on  hand  at  the  moment 
as  vital  as  the  relief  of  Sumter — how  to  prevent  further  ac 
cessions  to  the  Southern  Confederacy.  When  he  was  in 
augurated,  seven  of  the  slave-holding  States  had  left  the 
Union.  In  two  others,  Virginia  and  Missouri,  conventions 
were  in  session  considering  secession;  but  in  both,  Union 


20  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

sentiment  predominated.  Three  others,  North  Carolina, 
Kentucky,  and  Tennessee,  had  by  popular  vote  decided  to 
hold  no  convention.  Maryland  had  already  held  an  irregular 
State  assembly,  but  nothing  had  been  accomplished  by  the 
separatists.  Mr.  Lincoln's  problem  was  how  to  strengthen 
this  surviving  Union  sentiment  sufficiently  to  prevent  seces 
sion  in  case  the  Administration  was  forced  to  relieve  Sumter. 
Evidently  he  could  do  nothing  at  the  moment  but  inform 
himself  as  accurately  as  possible,  by  correspondence  and  con 
ferences,  of  the  temper  of  the  people  and  put  himself  into 
relations  with  men  in  each  State  on  whom  he  could  rely  in 
case  of  emergency.  He  did  this  with  care  and  persistency, 
and  so  effectively  that  later,  when  matters  became  more  seri 
ous,  visitors  from  the  doubtful  States  often  expressed  their 
amazement  at  the  President's  knowledge  of  the  sentiments 
and  conditions  of  their  parts  of  the  country. 

The  first  State  in  which  Lincoln  attempted  any  active  in 
terference  in  favor  of  the  Union  was  one  which  had  already 
voted  itself  out,  Texas.  A  conflict  had  arisen  there  between 
the  Southern  party  and  the  Governor,  Sam  Houston,  and  on 
March  18  the  latter  had  been  deposed.  When  Mr.  Lincoln 
heard  of  this,  he  decided  to  try  to  get  a  message  to  the  Gov 
ernor,  offering  United  States  support  if  he  would  put  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  Union  party  of  the  State.  The  messenger 
who  carried  this  word  to  Houston  was  Mr.  G.  H.  Giddings, 
at  that  time  the  holder  of  the  contract  for  carrying  the  mails 
by  the  El  Paso  route  to  California.  He  was  taken  to  the 
White  House  by  his  friend  Postmaster-General  Blair,  and 
gives  the  following  account  of  what  occurred  at  the  inter 
view.  It  is  one  of  the  very  few  descriptions  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
in  a  Cabinet  meeting  which  we  have : 

I  was  taken  into  the  Cabinet  room,  and  introduced  by  the 
Postmaster-General  to  President  Lincoln  and  all  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Cabinet,  who  were  there  apparently  waiting  for 


THE  FIRST  INAUGURATION  OF  LINCOLN     21 

us.  The  President  asked  me  to  take  a  seat  at  the  big  table 
next  to  him.  He  then  said  to  me,  "  You  have  been  highly 
recommended  to  me  as  a  reliable  man  by  the  Postmaster- 
General,  the  Hon.  G.  A.  Grow,  and  others.  They  tell  me 
that  you  are  an  old  citizen  of  Texas  and  about  to  return  to 
your  home.  My  object  in  wishing  to  see  you  is  that  I  desire 
to  intrust  to  you  a  secret  message  to  Governor  Houston." 

I  said,  "  Yes,  Mr.  President,  I  should  have  left  to-night 
but  for  this  invitation  to  call  on  you,  which  was  a  great 
pleasure  to  me." 

He  then  asked  me  a  great  many  questions,  where  I  was 
born,  when  I  went  to  Texas,  what  I  had  been  doing  there, 
how  I  liked  the  State,  and  what  was  the  public  sentiment  in 
Texas  in  regard  to  the  prospects  of  a  war — all  of  which  I 
answered  to  the  best  of  my  ability. 

He  then  said  to  me  that  the  message  was  of  such  im 
portance  that,  before  handing  it  to  me,  he  would  read  it  to 
me.  Before  beginning  to  read  he  said,  "  This  is  a  confi 
dential  and  secret  message.  No  one  besides  my  Cabinet  and 
myself  knows  anything  about  it,  and  we  are  all  sworn  to 
secrecy.  I  am  going  to  swear  you  in  as  one  of  my  Cabinet." 
And  then  he  said  to  me  in  a  jocular  way,  "  Hold  up  your 
right  hand,"  which  I  did.  "  Now,"  said  he,  "consider  your 
self  a  member  of  my  Cabinet." 

He  then  read  the  message,  explaining  his  meaning  at  times 
as  he  was  reading  it.  The  message  was  written  in  big  bold 
hand,  on  large  sheets  of  paper,  and  consisted  of  several  pages. 
It  was  signed  "  A.  Lincoln."  I  cannot  give  the  exact  words 
of  the  message,  but  the  substance  was  as  follows : 

It  referred  first  to  the  surrender,  by  General  Twiggs,  of 
the  United  States  troops,  forts,  and  property  in  Texas  to  the 
rebels,  and  offered  to  appoint  Governor  Houston  a  major- 
general  in  the  United  States  army  in  case  he  would  accept. 
It  authorized  him  to  take  full  command  in  Texas,  taking 
charge  of  all  Government  property  and  such  of  the  old  army 
as  he  could  get  together,  and  to  recruit  100,000  men,  if  pos 
sible,  and  to  hold  Texas  in  the  Union.  In  case  he  did  accept, 
the  President  promised  to  support  him  with  the  whole  power 
of  the  Government,  both  of  the  army  and  navy.  After  hear 
ing  the  message  read,  I  suggested  to  the  President  that  it  was 


22  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

of  such  importance  that  perhaps  he  had  better  send  it  by  some 
government  official. 

"  No,"  he  said.  "  Those  Texans  would  hang  any  official 
caught  with  that  paper." 

I  replied  that  they  would  hang  me,  too,  if  they  caught  me 
with  that  message. 

"  I  do  not  wish  to  have  you  hung/'  he  replied ;  "  and  if  you 
think  there  is  so  much  danger,  I  will  not  ask  you  to  take  it, 
although  I  am  anxious  to  get  it  to  Governor  Houston  as  soon 
as  possible.  As  you  live  in  Texas  and  are  about  to  return,  I 
was  in  hopes  you  would  take  it." 

"  I  will  take  the  message  with  much  pleasure,"  I  replied, 
"  as  you  personally  request  it,  and  will  deliver  it  safely  to 
Governor  Houston,  only  stipulating  that  it  shall  remain  as 
one  of  your  Cabinet  secrets."  This  he  assured  me  should  be 
done. 

I  remained  there  until  about  midnight.  The  question  of 
war  or  no  war  was  discussed  by  different  members  of  the 
Cabinet.  Mr.  Seward  said  there  would  be  no  war. 
The  President  said  he  hoped  and  prayed  that  there  would 
not  be  a  war.  I  said  to  Mr.  Seward  that,  as  he  knew,  Con 
gress  had  extended  my  overland  mail  contract  one  contract 
term  and  doubled  the  service;  that  to  put  the  increased  ser 
vice  in  operation  would  cost  me  over  $50,000,  which  would 
be  lost  in  case  of  war ;  and  I  asked  him  what  I  had  better 
do. 

"  There  will  be  no  war,"  Mr.  Seward  said ;  "  go  ahead 
and  put  on  the  increased  service.  You  will  run  no  risk  in 
doing  so."  He  said  that  Humphrey  Marshall  and  some  oth 
ers,  whose  names  I  have  forgotten,  had  left  Washington  a 
few  days  before  that,  to  go  into  the  border  States  and  hold 
public  meetings  and  ask  the  South  to  meet  the  North  and 
have  a  National  Convention  for  the  purpose  of  amending  the 
Constitution.  He  had  no  doubt,  he  said,  that  this  would  be 
done,  and  that,  so  far  as  he  was  individually  concerned,  he 
would  prefer  giving  the  Southern  brothers  the  parchment 
and  let  them  enter  the  amendment  to  the  Constitution  to  suit 
themselves  rather  than  have  a  civil  war.  He  said,  in  all 
probability,  some  arrangements  would  be  made  to  pay  for 
the  slaves  and  the  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery. 


THE  FIRST  INAUGURATION  OF  LINCOLN     23 

With  these  momentous  affairs  on  hand,  Lincoln  needed 
freedom  from  trivial  and  personal  matters,  if  ever  a  President 
needed  it;  yet  one  who  reads  the  documents  of  the  period 
would  infer  that  his  entire  time  was  spent  in  appointing  post 
masters.  There  was  no  escape  for  him.  The  office-seekers 
had  seized  Washington,  and  were  making  the  White  House 
their  headquarters. 

"  There  were  days,"  says  William  O.  Stoddard,  "  when 
the  throng  of  eager  applicants  for  office  filled  the  broad  stair 
case  to  its  lower  steps;  the  corridors  of  the  first  floor;  the 
famous  East  room ;  the  private  parlors ;  while  anxious  groups 
and  individuals  paraded  up  and  down  the  outer  porch,  the 
walks,  and  the  avenue." 

They  even  attacked  Lincoln  on  the  street.  One  day  as  his 
carriage  rolled  up  the  avenue,  a  man  stopped  it  and  attempted 
to  present  his  application  and  credentials.  "  No,  no,"  said 
Mr.  Lincoln  indignantly,  "  I  won't  open  shop  in  the  street." 

This  raid  had  begun  in  Springfield  with  the  election.  As 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  elected  without  bargains  on  his  part, 
he  did  not  propose  to  consider  minor  appointments  until  actu 
ally  inaugurated. 

"  I  have  made  up  my  mind,"  he  said  to  a  visitor  a  few  days 
after  his  election,  "  not  to  be  badgered  about  these  places.  I 
have  promised  nothing  high  or  low,  and  will  not.  By-and- 
by,  when  I  call  somebody  to  me  in  the  character  of  an  ad 
viser,  we  will  examine  the  claims  to  the  most  responsible 
posts  and  decide  what  shall  be  done.  As  for  the  rest,  I  shall 
have  enough  to  do  without  reading  recommendations  for 
country  postmasters." 

All  of  the  hundreds  who  had  been  put  off  in  the  winter, 
now  reappeared  in  Washington.  Now,  Lincoln  had  clear  no 
tions  of  the  use  of  the  appointing  power.  One  side  should 
not  gobble  up  everything,  he  declared ;  but  in  the  pressure  of 


24  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

applications,  it  gave  him  the  greatest  difficulty  to  prevent  this 
"  gobbling  up."  Another  rule  he  had  adopted  was  not  to 
appoint  over  the  heads  of  his  advisers.  He  preferred  to  win 
their  consent  to  an  appointment  by  tact  rather  than  to  make 
it  by  his  own  power.  A  case  in  point  is  disclosed  in  a  letter 
he  wrote  to  General  Scott,  in  June,  in  which  he  said : 

Doubtless  you  begin  to  understand  how  disagreeable  it  is 
for  me  to  do  a  thing  arbitrarily  when  it  is  unsatisfactory  to 
others  associated  with  me. 

I  very  much  wish  to  appoint  Colonel  Meigs  Quartermas 
ter-General,  and  yet  General  Cameron  does  not  quite  consent. 
I  have  come  to  know  Colonel  Meigs  quite  well  for  a  short 
acquaintance,  and,  so  far  as  I  am  capable  of  judging,  I  do 
not  know  one  who  combines  the  qualities  of  masculine  intel 
lect,  learning,  and  experience  of  the  right  sort,  and  physical 
power  of  labor  and  endurance,  so  well  as  he. 

I  know  he  has  great  confidence  in  you,  always  sustaining, 
so  far  as  I  have  observed,  your  opinions  against  any  differ 
ing  ones. 

You  will  lay  me  under  one  more  obligation  if  you  can  and 
will  use  your  influence  to  remove  General  Cameron's  objec 
tion.  I  scarcely  need  tell  you  I  have  nothing  personal  in  this, 
having  never  seen  or  heard  of  Colonel  Meigs  until  about  the 
end  of  last  March. 

But  that  he  could  appoint  arbitrarily  is  certain  from  the 
following  letter: 

.  .  .  You  must  make  a  job  of  it,  and  provide  a  place 
for  the  bearer  of  this,  Elias  Wampole.  Make  a  job  of  it  with 
the  collector  and  have  it  done.  You  can  do  it  for  me,  and 
you  must. 

In  spite  of  the  terrible  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  him 
by  the  place-hunters ;  in  spite  of  the  frequent  dissatisfaction 
his  appointments  gave,  and  the  abuse  the  disappointed  heaped 
upon  him,  he  rarely  lost  his  patience,  rarely  was  anything  but 


i- 


>^ 


f 


••'/'  x-   i 

/ 


r 


ter  1 


MARY   TODD   LINCOLN,  WIFE  OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN. 
From  a  photograph  taken   by   Brady,   in  the  War   Department  Collection  of  Civil   War  Photographs. 


THE  FIRST  INAUGURATION  OF  LINCOLN     25 

kind.  His  sense  of  humor  aided  him  wonderfully  in  this  par 
ticular.  The  incongruity  of  a  man  in  his  position,  and  with 
the  very  life  of  the  country  at  stake,  pausing  to  appoint  post 
masters,  struck  him  forcibly.  "  What  is  the  matter,  Mr.  Lin 
coln,"  said  a  friend  one  day,  when  he  saw  him  looking  par 
ticularly  grave  and  dispirited.  "  Has  anything  gone  wrong 
at  the  front?" 

"  No,"  said  the  President,  with  a  tired  smile.  "  It  isn't 
the  war ;  it's  the  post-office  at  Brownsville,  Missouri." 

The  "  Public  Man  "  relates  in  his  "  Diary  "  the  end  of  an 
interview  he  and  a  friend  had  with  the  President  on 
March  7: 

"  He  walked  into  the  corridor  with  us ;  and,  as  he  bade  us 

good-by  and  thanked for  what  he  had  told  him,  he 

again  brightened  up  for  a  moment  and  asked  him  in  an 
abrupt  kind  of  way,  laying  his  hand  as  he  spoke  with  a  queer 
but  not  uncivil  familiarity  on  his  shoulder,  'You  haven't  such 

a  thing  as  a  postmaster  in  your  pocket,  have  you  ?  ' 

stared  at  him  in  astonishment,  and  I  thought  a  little  in  alarm, 
as  if  he  suspected  a  sudden  attack  of  insanity;  then  Mr.  Lin 
coln  went  on :  '  You  see  it  seems  to  me  kind  of  unnatural 
that  you  shouldn't  have  at  least  a  postmaster  in  your  pocket. 
Everybody  I've  seen  for  days  past  has  had  foreign  ministers, 
and  collectors,  and  all  kinds,  and  I  thought  you  couldn't  have 
got  in  here  without  having  at  least  a  postmaster  get  into 
your  pocket ! " 

The  "  strange  bed- fellows  "  politics  was  constantly  mak 
ing  always  amused  him.  One  day  a  man  turned  up  who  had 
letters  of  recommendation  from  the  most  prominent  pair  of 
enemies  in  the  Republican  party,  Horace  Greeley  and  Thur- 
low  Weed.  The  President  immediately  did  what  he  could 
for  him : 

Mr.  Adams  is  magnificently  recommended ;  but  the  great 
point  in  his  favor  is  that  Thurlow  Weed  and  Horace  Gree 
ley  join  in  recommending  hira-  I  suppose  the  like  never 


26  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

happened  before,  and  never  will  again ;  so  that  it  is  now  or 
never.    What  say  you  ? 

A  less  obvious  perplexity  than  the  office-seekers  for  Mr. 
Lincoln  at  this  period,  though  a  no  less  real  one,  was  the  at 
titude  of  his  Secretary  of  State — his  cheerful  assumption 
that  he,  not  Mr.  Lincoln,  was  the  final  authority  of  the  ad 
ministration. 

Mr.  Seward  had  been  for  years  the  leader  of  the  Republi 
can  party.  His  defeat  in  the  Chicago  Convention  of  1860 
had  been  a  terrible  blow  to  a  large  number  of  people,  though 
Seward  himself  had  taken  it  nobly.  "  The  Republican  party 
was  not  made  for  Mr.  Seward,"  he  told  his  friends,  "  but  Mr. 
Seward  for  the  Republican  party,"  and  he  went  heartily  into 
the  campaign.  But  he  believed,  as  many  Republicans  did, 
that  Lincoln  was  unfit  for  the  presidency,  and  that  some  one 
of  his  associates  would  be  obliged  to  assume  leadership. 
When  Mr.  Seward  accepted  the  Secretaryship  of  State,  he 
evidently  did  it  with  the  idea  that  he  was  to  be  the  Provi 
dence  of  the  administration.  "  It  is  inevitable,"  he  wrote  to 
his  wife  on  December  28th,  the  very  day  he  wrote  to  Mr. 
Lincoln  of  his  acceptance.  "  I  will  try  to  save  freedom  and 
my  country."  A  week  later  he  wrote  home,  "  I  have  as 
sumed  a  sort  of  dictatorship  for  defense,  and  am  laboring 
night  and  day  with  the  cities  and  States.  My  hope,  rather 
my  confidence,  is  unabated."  And  again,  on  January  i8th; 
"  It  seems  to  me  if  I  am  absent  only  eight  days,  this  admin 
istration,  the  Congress,  and  the  District  would  fall  into  con 
sternation  and  despair.  I  am  the  only  hopeful,  calm,  con 
ciliatory  person  here." 

When  Lincoln  arrived  in  Washington  and  asked  Seward 
to  read  the  inaugural  address,  the  latter  gave  it  the  closest 
attention,  modifying  it  to  fit  his  own  policy,  and  in  defense 
of  the  changes  he  made,  he  wrote  to  the  President-elect: 
"  Only  the  soothing  words  which  I  have  sp°k*n  have  saved 


THE  FIRST  INAUGURATION  OP  LINCOLN     27 

us  and  carried  us  along  thus  far.    Every  loyal  man,  and  in 
deed  every  disloyal  man,  in  the  South  will  tell  you  this."'' 

He  began  his  duties  as  Secretary  of  State  with  the  same 
confidence  in  his  call  to  be  the  real,  if  not  the  apparent,  head 
of  affairs.  When  the  question  of  relieving  Sumter  came  up, 
he  believed  that  it  was  he  who  was  managing  the  matter. 
"  I  wish  I  could  tell  you  something  of  the  political  troubles 
of  the  country/'  he  wrote  home,  "  but  I  cannot  find  the  time. 
They  are  enough  to  tax  the  wisdom  of  the  wisest.  Fort 
Sumter  is  in  danger.  Relief  of  it  practically  impossible.  The 
commissioners  from  the  Southern  Confederacy  are  here. 
These  cares  fall  chiefly  on  me." 

According  to  Mr.  Welles,  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  "  con 
fidence  and  mutual  frankness  on  public  affairs  and  matters 
pertaining  to  the  government,  particularly  on  what  related 
to  present  and  threatened  disturbances,  existed  among  all 
the  members  [of  the  cabinet],  with  the  exception  of  Mr. 
Seward,  who  had,  or  affected,  a  certain  mysterious  knowl-* 
edge  which  he  was  not  prepared  to  impart."  Mr.  Welles 
asserts  that  Mr.  Seward  carried  so  far  his  assumption  of  the 
"  cares  "  of  Sumter  and  other  questions  as  to  meddle  in  the 
duties  of  his  associates  in  the  cabinet.  He  opposed  regular 
cabinet  meetings,  and  at  first  had  his  way.  After  Tuesdays 
and  Fridays  were  set  as  cabinet  days,  he  contended  that  it 
was  not  necessary  that  a  member  should  come  to  the  meet 
ings  unless  especially  summoned  by  Mr.  Lincoln  or  him 
self. 

If  Mr.  Seward  had  been  less  self-confident,  he  would 
have  seen  before  the  end  of  March  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  a 
mind  of  his  own,  and  with  it  a  quiet  way  of  following  its 
decisions.  Others  had  seen  this.  For  instance,  he  had  had 
his  own  way  about  who  should  go  into  the  cabinet.  "  There 
can  be  no  doubt  of  it  any  longer,"  wrote  the  "  Public  Ma 
in  his  "  Diary  "  on  March  2,  "  this  man  from  Illinois  is  no 


28  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Seward."  Then  there  was  the  inaugu 
ral  address — it  was  his,  not  Mr.  Seward's;  and  more  than 
one  prominent  newspaper  commented  with  astonishment 
on  that  fact. 

Nobody  knew  these  facts  better  than  the  Secretary  of 
State.  He  had  discovered  also  that  Mr.  Lincoln  attended 
to  his  business.  "  This  President  proposes  to  do  all  his 
work,"  he  wrote  to  Mrs.  Seward  on  March  16.  He  had 
received,  too,  at  least  one  severe  lesson,  which  ought  to  have 
shown  him  that  it  was  Mr.  Lincoln,  not  he,  who  was  cast 
ing  the  decisive  vote  in  the  cabinet.  This  was  in  reference 
to  Sumter.  During  the  period  when  the  President  was  wait 
ing  to  hear  from  Fort  Pickens,  commissioners  from  the 
Southern  Confederacy  had  been  in  Washington.  Mr.  Sew 
ard  had  not  received  them,  but  through  a  trusted  agent  he 
had  assured  them  that  Sumter  would  be  evacuated.  There 
is  no  proof,  so  far  as  I  know,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  knew  of  this 
quasi-promise  of  his  Secretary  of  State.  As  we  have  seen, 
he  did  not  decide  to  order  an  expedition  prepared  to  relieve 
the  fort  until  March  29.  From  what  we  know  of  the 
character  of  the  man,  it  is  inconceivable  that  he  should  have 
authorized  Mr.  Sev/ard  to  promise  to  do  a  thing  which  he 
had  not  yet  decided  to  do.  The  Secretary  assumed  that,  be 
cause  he  believed  in  evacuation,  it  would  follow,  and  he  as 
sured  the  Southern  commissioners  to  that  effect.  Suddenly 
he  realized  that  the  President  was  not  going  to  evacuate 
Sumter,  that  his  representations  to  the  Southerners  were 
worthless,  that  he  had  been  following  a  course  which  was 
bound  to  bring  on  the  administration  the  charge  of  decep 
tion  and  fraud.  Yet  all  these  things  taught  him  nothing  of 
the  man  he  had  to  deal  with,  and  on  April  I  he  sent  Mr. 
Lincoln  a  letter  in  which  he  laid  down  an  astounding  policy 
— to  make  war  on  half  Europe — and  offered  to  t^^  the 
reins  of  administration  into  his  own  hands. 


THE  FIRST  INAUGURATION  OF  LINCOLN     29 


SOME    THOUGHTS    FOR    THE    PRESIDENTS    CONSIDERATION, 
APRIL  I,    l86l. 

First.  We  are  at  the  end  of  a  month's  administration,  and 
yet  without  a  policy,  either  domestic  or  foreign. 

Second.  This,  however,  is  not  culpable,  and  it  has  even 
been  unavoidable.  The  presence  of  the  Senate,  with  the 
need  to  meet  applications  for  patronage,  have  prevented  at 
tention  to  other  and  more  grave  matters. 

Third.  But  further  delay  to  adopt  and  prosecute  our  poli 
cies  for  both  domestic  and  foreign  affairs  would  not  only 
bring  scandal  on  the  administration,  but  danger  upon  the 
country. 

Fourth.  To  do  this  we  must  dismiss  the  applicants  for 
office.  But  how  ?  I  suggest  that  we  make  the  local  appoint 
ments  forthwith,  leaving  foreign  or  general  ones  for  ulterior 
and  occasional  action. 

Fifth.  The  policy  at  home.  I  am  aware  that  my  views 
are  singular,  and  perhaps  not  sufficiently  explained.  My 
system  is  built  upon  this  idea  as  a  ruling  one,  namely,  that 
we  must 

CHANGE  THE  QUESTION   BEFORE  THE  PUBLIC   FROM   ONE 

UPON  SLAVERY,  OR  ABOUT  SLAVERY,  for  a  question  upon 

UNION  OR  DISUNION  : 

In  other  words,  from  what  would  be  regarded  as  a  party 
question,  to  one  of  patriotism  or  union. 

The  occupation  or  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter,  although 
not  in  fact  a  slavery  or  a  party  question,  is  so  regarded.  Wit 
ness  the  temper  manifested  by  the  Republicans  in  the  free 
States,  and  even  by  the  Union  men  in  the  South. 

I  would  therefore  terminate  it  as  a  safe  means  for  chang 
ing  the  issue.  I  deem  it  fortunate  that  the  last  administra 
tion  created  the  necessity. 

For  the  rest,  I  would  simultaneously  defend  and  re-enforce 
all  the  ports  in  the  Gulf,  and  have  the  navy  recalled  from  for 
eign  stations  to  be  prepared  for  a  blockade.  Put  the  island 
of  Key  West  under  martial  law. 

This  will  raise  distinctly  the  question  of  union  or  disunion. 
I  would  maintain  every  fort  and  possession  in  the  South. 


30  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

FOR   FOREIGN    NATIONS. 

I  would  demand  explanations  from  Spain  and  France, 
categorically,  at  once. 

I  would  seek  explanations  from  Great  Britain  and  Russia, 
and  send  agents  into  Canada,  Mexico,  and  Central  America 
to  rouse  a  vigorous  continental  spirit  of  independence  on  this 
continent  against  European  intervention. 

And,  if  satisfactory  explanations  are  not  received  from 
Spain  and  France, 

Would  convene  Congress  and  declare  war  against  them. 

But  whatever  policy  we  adopt,  there  must  be  an  energetic 
prosecution  of  it. 

For  this  purpose  it  must  be  somebody's  business  to  pursue 
and  direct  it  incessantly. 

Either  the  President  must  do  it  himself,  and  be  all  the 
while  active  in  it,  or 

Devolve  it  on  some  member  of  his  cabinet.  Once  adopted, 
debates  on  it  must  end,  and  all  agree  and  abide. 

It  is  not  in  my  especial  province; 

But  I  neither  seek  to  evade  nor  assume  responsibility. 

Mr.  Lincoln  replied : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  'April  I,  1861. 

HON.  W.  H.  SEWARD. 

My  dear  Sir:  Since  parting  with  you,  I  have  been  consid 
ering  your  paper  dated  this  day,  and  entitled  "  Some 
Thoughts  for  the  President's  Consideration."  The  first 
proposition  in  it  is,  "First,  We  are  at  the  end  of  a  month's 
administration,  and  yet  without  a  policy,  either  domestic  or 
foreign." 

At  the  beginning  of  that  month,  in  the  inaugural,  I  said : 
"  The  power  confided  to  me  will  be  used  to  hold,  occupy,  and 
possess  the  property  and  places  belonging  to  the  government, 
and  to  collect  the  duties  and  imposts."  This  had  your  distinct 
approval  at  the  time ;  and  taken  in  connection  with  the  order 
I  immediately  gave  General  Scott,  directing  him  to  employ 


THE  FIRST  INAUGURATION  OF  LINCOLN     31 

every  means  in  his  power  to  strengthen  and  hold  the  forts, 
comprises  the  exact  domestic  policy  you  now  urge,  with  the 
single  exception  that  it  does  not  propose  to  abandon  Fort 
Sumter. 

Again,  I  do  not  perceive  how  the  re-enforcement  of  Fort 
Sumter  would  be  done  on  a  slavery  or  a  party  issue,  while 
that  of  Fort  Pickens  would  be  on  a  more  national  and  pa 
triotic  one. 

The  news  received  yesterday  in  regard  to  St.  Domingo 
certainly  brings  a  new  item  within  the  range  of  our  foreign 
policy ;  but  up  to  that  time  we  have  been  preparing  circulars 
and  instructions  to  ministers  and  the  like,  all  in  perfect  har 
mony,  without  even  a  suggestion  that  we  had  no  foreign 
policy. 

Upon  your  closing  proposition — that  "  whatever  policy 
we  adopt,  there  must  be  an  energetic  prosecution  of  it. 

"  For  this  purpose  it  must  be  somebody's  business  to  pur 
sue  and  direct  it  incessantly. 

"  Either  the  President  must  do  it  himself,  and  be  all  the 
while  active  in  it,  or 

"  Devolve  it  on  some  member  of  his  cabinet.  Once  adopted, 
debates  on  it  must  end,  and  all  agree  and  abide  " — I  remark 
that  if  this  must  be  done,  I  must  do  it.  When  a  general  line 
of  policy  is  adopted,  I  apprehend  there  is  no  danger  of  its 
being  changed  without  good  reason,  or  continuing  to  be  a 
subject  of  unnecessary  debate ;  still,  upon  points  arising  in  its 
progress  I  wish,  and  suppose  I  am  entitled  to  have,  the  ad 
vice  of  all  the  cabinet. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

A.  LINCOLN.* 

The  magnanimity  of  this  letter  was  only  excelled  by  the 
President's  treatment  of  the  matter.  He  never  revealed  Mr. 
Seward's  amazing  proposition  to  any  one  but  Mr.  Nicolay, 
his  private  secretary,  and  it  never  reached  the  public  until 
Nicolay  and  Hay  published  it.  Mr.  Lincoln's  action  in  this 
matter,  and  his  handling  of  the  events  which  followed, 

*  Abraham  Lincoln,  a  History,  Vol.  III.     By  Nicolay  and  Hay. 


32  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

gradually  dispelled  Mr.  Seward's  illusion.  By  June,  the  Sec 
retary  had  begun  to  understand  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  was  quick 
and  generous  to  acknowledge  his  power.  "  Executive  force 
and  vigor  are  rare  qualities,"  he  wrote  to  Mrs.  Seward  on 
June  5.  "  The  President  is  the  best  of  us." 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE   BEGINNING  OF   CIVIL   WAR 

IT  WAS  on  April  9,  1861,  that  the  expedition  ordered  by 
President  Lincoln  for  the  relief  of  Fort  Sumter  sailed  from 
New  York.  The  day  before,  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina 
had  received  from  the  President  the  notification  sent  on  the 
6th  that  he  might  expect  an  attempt  to  be  made  to  provision 
the  fort.  Ever  since  Mr.  Lincoln's  inauguration  the  Con 
federate  government  had  been  watching  intently  the  new 
Administration's  course.  Sumter,  it  was  resolved,  should 
never  be  captured,  re-enforced,  even  provisioned.  When  it 
was  certain  that  an  expedition  had  started  for  its  relief  an 
order  to  attack  the  fort  was  given,  and  it  was  bombarded 
until  it  fell. 

The  bombardment  of  Sumter  began  at  half  past  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning  of  April  12.  All  that  day  rumors 
and  private  telegrams  came  to  the  White  House  reporting 
the  progress  of  the  attack  and  Anderson's  heroic  defense,  but 
there  was  nothing  official.  By  evening,  however,  there  was 
no  doubt  that  Fort  Sumter  was  being  reduced.  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  already  formulating  his  plan  of  action,  his  one  question 
to  the  excited  visitors  who  called  upon  him  being,  "  Will 
your  State  support  me  with  military  power  ?  "  The  way  in 
which  the  matter  presented  itself  to  his  mind  he  stated  clearly 
to  Congress,  when  that  body  next  came  together : 

.  .  .  The  assault  upon  and  reduction  of  Fort  Sumter 
was  in  no  sense  a  matter  of  self-defense  on  the  part  of  the 

(3)  33 


34  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

assailants.  They  well  knew  that  the  garrison  in  the  fort 
could  by  no  possibility  commit  aggression  upon  them.  They 
knew — they  were  expressly  notified — that  the  giving  of 
bread  to  the  few  brave  and  hungry  men  of  the  garrison  was 
all  which  would  on  that  occasion  be  attempted,  unless  them 
selves,  by  resisting  so  much,  should  provoke  more.  They 
knew  that  this  government  desired  to  keep  the  garrison  in 
the  fort,  not  to  assail  them,  but  merely  to  maintain  visible  pos 
session,  and  thus  to  preserve  the  Union  from  actual  and  im 
mediate  dissolution — trusting,  as  hereinbefore  stated,  to  time, 
discussion,  and  the  ballot-box  for  final  adjustment;  and  they 
assailed  and  reduced  the  fort  for  precisely  the  reverse  ob 
ject — to  drive  out  the  visible  authority  of  the  Federal  Union, 
and  thus  force  it  to  immediate  dissolution.  .  .  . 

And  this  issue  embraces  more  than  the  fate  of  these  United 
States.  It  presents  to  the  whole  family  of  man  the  question 
whether  a  constitutional  republic  or  democracy — a  govern 
ment  of  the  people  by  the  same  people — can  or  can  not  main 
tain  its  territorial  integrity  against  its  own  domestic 
foes.  .  .  . 

So  viewing  the  issue,  no  choice  was  left  but  to  call  out  the 
war  power  of  the  government;  and  so  to  resist  force  em 
ployed  for  its  destruction,  by  force  for  its  preservation. 

This  was  not  Mr.  Lincoln's  view  alone.  It  was  the  view  of 
the  North.  And  when,  on  April  15,  he  issued  a  proclama 
tion  calling  for  75,000  militia  and  appealing  to  all  loyal  citi 
zens  "  to  favor,  facilitate,  and  aid  this  effort  to  maintain  the 
honor,  the  integrity,  and  the  existence  of  our  National 
Union,  and  the  perpetuity  of  popular  government,  and  to  re 
dress  wrongs  already  long  enough  endured,"  there  was  an 
immediate  and  overwhelming  response.  The  telegraph  of 
the  very  day  of  the  proclamation  announced  that  in  almost 
every  city  and  town  of  the  North  volunteer  regiments  were 
forming  and  that  Union  mass  meetings  were  in  session  in 
halls  and  churches  and  public  squares.  "  What  portion  of 
the  75,000  militia  you  call  for  do  you  give  to  Ohio  ?  We  will 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  CIVIL  WAR  35 

furnish  the  largest  number  you  will  receive,"  telegraphed  the 
Governor  of  that  State  in  response  to  the  President's  mes 
sage.  Indiana,  whose  quota  was  less  than  5,000  men,  tele 
graphed  back  that  10,000  were  ready.  "  We  will  furnish 
you  the  regiments  in  thirty  days  if  you  want  them,  and  50,- 
ooo  men  if  you  need  them,"  telegraphed  Zachariah  Chandler 
from  Michigan.  So  rapidly  did  men  come  in  under  this 
call  for  75,000,  that  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  War  De 
partment  to  keep  the  number  down,  it  swelled  to  91,816. 

It  was  not  troops  alone  that  were  offered.  Banks  and 
private  individuals  offered  money  and  credit.  Supplies  of 
every  sort  were  put  at  the  government's  order.  Corpora 
tions  sent  their  presidents  to  Washington,  offering  rail 
roads  and  factories.  Stephen  Douglas  sought  Lincoln 
and  offered  all  his  splendid  power  to  the  Administration. 
Edward  Everett,  who  had  strongly  sympathized  with  the 
South,  declared  for  the  movement.  Individuals  suspected  of 
Southern  sympathy  were  promptly  hooted  off  the  streets  and 
newspapers  which  had  been  advocating  disunion  were  forced 
to  hang  out  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  or  suffer  a  mob  to  raze 
their  establishments.  The  fall  of  Summer  seemed  for  the 
moment  to  make  a  unit  of  the  North. 

Patriotic  fervor  was  intensified  by  the  satisfaction  that  at 
last  the  long  tension  was  over.  Nor  was  this  strange.  For 
months  the  war  fever  had  been  burning  in  the  veins  of  both 
North  and  South.  At  times  compromise  had  seemed  cer 
tain,  then  suddenly  no  one  knew  why  it  seemed  as  if  another 
twenty-four  hours  would  plunge  the  country  into  war.  Many 
a  public  man  on  both  sides  had  grown  thin  and  haggard  in 
wrestling  with  the  terrible  problem  that  winter  and  spring. 
Congressmen  in  Washington  had  walked  the  streets  argu 
ing,  groaning,  seeking  an  escape.  Many  a  sleepless  man  had 
tossed  nightly  on  his  bed  until  daybreak,  then  rose  to  smoke 
and  walk,  always  pursued  by  the  same  problems  and  never 


36  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

seeing  any  final  solution  but  war.  The  struggle  had 
penetrated  the  social  circles,  particularly  in  border  cities  like 
Washington,  and  rarely  did  people  assemble  that  hot  discus 
sions  did  not  rise.  The  very  children  in  the  schools  took  up 
the  debates,  and  for  many  weeks  in  Washington  the  school 
grounds  were  the  scenes  of  small  daily  quarrels,  ending  often 
in  blows  and  tears.  The  fall  of  Sumter  ended  this  exhaust 
ing  uncertainty.  Henceforth  there  was  nothing  to  do  but 
range  yourself  on  one  side  or  the  other  and  fight  it  out. 

But  if  Sumter  unified  the  sentiment  of  the  North,  it  did 
no  less  for  the  South.  Henceforth  there  was  but  one  voice 
in  the  Southern  States,  and  that  for  the  Confederacy.  North 
Carolina,  Virginia,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Missouri,  Arkan 
sas,  all  refused  the  President's  call  for  troops.  In  Virginia 
a  convention  was  in  session,  whose  members  up  to  that  day 
were  in  the  main  for  the  Union.  On  April  17  that  conven 
tion  passed  an  ordinance  of  secession.  The  next  day  the 
arsenal  at  Harper's  Ferry  was  seized  by  the  State,  and  the 
Southern  Confederacy  at  Montgomery  was  informed  that 
Virginia  was  open  to  its  troops.  The  line  of  hostility  had 
reached  the  very  boundaries  of  Washington.  The  bluffs 
across  the  Potomac,  now  beautiful  in  the  first  green  of 
spring,  on  which  Mr.  Lincoln  looked  every  morning  from 
his  windows  in  the  White  House,  were  no  longer  in  his 
country.  They  belonged  to  the  enemy. 

With  the  news  of  the  secession  of  Virginia,  there  reached 
Washington  on  Thursday,  April  18,  a  rumor  that  a  large 
Confederate  force  was  marching  on  the  city.  Now  there 
were  not  over  2,500  armed  men  in  Washington.  Regiments 
were  known  to  be  on  their  way  from  Pennsylvania  and 
Massachusetts,  but  nobody  could  say  when  they  would  ar 
rive.  Washington  might  be  razed  to  the  ground  before  they 
came.  A  hurried  effort  at  defense  was  at  once  made. 
Women  and  children  were  sent  out  of  the  city.  At  the 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  CIVIL  WAR  37 

White  House,  Mrs.  Lincoln  was  urged  to  go  with  her  boys, 
but  she  refused  positively.  "  I  am  as  safe  as  Mr.  Lincoln, 
and  I  shall  not  leave  him,"  was  her  stout  answer. 

Guards  were  stationed  at  every  approach  to  the  city,  can 
non  were  planted  in  commanding  positions,  while  "  govern 
ment  officials,  foreign  ministers,  governors,  senators,  office- 
seekers"  were  pressed  into  one  or  the  other  of  two  impromptu 
organizations,  the  Clay  Battalion  of  Cassius  M.  Clay,  and 
the  Frontier  Guards  of  Senator  Lane  of  Kansas.  For  a  short 
time  the  Frontier  Guards  were  quartered  in  the  East  Room 
of  the  White  House,  and  Clay's  Battalion  at  Willard's 
Hotel,  which  had  been  stripped  of  its  guests  in  a  night. 

The  confusion  and  alarm  of  the  city  was  greatly  increased 
on  Friday  by  news  received  from  Baltimore.  The  Sixth 
Massachusetts,  en  route  to  the  Capital,  had  reached  there, 
that  day,  and  had  been  attacked  as  it  marched  through  by  a 
mob  of  Southern  sympathizers.  Four  of  its  members  had 
been  killed  and  many  wounded.  "  No  troops  should  go 
through  Maryland,"  the  people  of  Baltimore  declared, 
"  whose  purpose  was  to  invade  Virginia  and  coerce  sister 
States."  That  evening  about  five  o'clock  the  regiment 
reached  Washington.  Dusty,  torn,  and  bleeding,  they 
marched  two  by  two  through  a  great  crowd  of  silent  people 
to  the  Capitol.  Behind  them  there  came,  in  single  line,  seven 
teen  stretchers,  bearing  the  wounded.  The  dead  had  been 
left  behind. 

Early  the  next  day,  Saturday,  the  2Oth,  a  delegation  of 
Baltimore  men  appeared  at  the  White  House.  They  had 
come  to  beg  Mr.  Lincoln  to  bring  no  more  troops  through 
their  city.  After  a  long  discussion,  he  sent  them  away  with 
a  note  to  the  Maryland  authorities,  suggesting  that  the  troops 
be  marched  around  Baltimore.  But  as  he  gave  them  the 
letter,  Mr.  Nicolay  heard  him  say  laughingly :  "  If  I  grant 
you  this  concession,  that  no  troops  shall  pass  through  the 


38  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

city,  you  will  be  back  here  to-morrow,  demanding  that  none 
shall  be  marched  around  it." 

The  President  was  right.  That  afternoon,  and  again  on 
Sunday  and  Monday,  committees  sought  him,  protesting  that 
Maryland  soil  should  not  be  "  polluted  "  by  the  feet  of  sol 
diers  marching  against  the  South.  The  President  had  but 
one  reply :  "  We  must  have  troops ;  and  as  they  can  neither 
crawl  under  Maryland  nor  fly  over  it,  they  must  come  across 
it." 

While  the  controversy  with  the  Baltimoreans  was  going 
on,  the  condition  of  Washington  had  become  hourly  more 
alarming.  In  1861  there  was  but  one  railroad  running  north 
from  Washington.  At  Annapolis  Junction  this  line  con 
nected  with  a  branch  to  Chesapeake  Bay ;  at  the  Relay  House, 
with  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  to  the  west ;  at  Baltimore,  with 
the  only  two  lines  then  entering  that  city  from  the  North, 
one  from  Harrisburg,  the  other  from  Philadelphia.  On  Fri 
day,  April  19,  after  the  attack  on  the  Sixth  Massachusetts, 
the  Maryland  authorities  ordered  that  certain  of  the  bridges 
on  the  railroads  running  from  Baltimore  to  Harrisburg  and 
Philadelphia  be  destroyed.  This  was  done  to  prevent  any 
more  trains  bearing  troops  entering  the  city.  The  telegraph 
lines  were  also  partially  destroyed  at  this  time.  Inspired  by 
this  example,  the  excited  Marylanders,  in  the  course  of  the 
next  two  or  three  days,  tore  up  much  of  the  track  running 
north  from  Washington,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Annapolis 
branch,  and  still  further  damaged  the  telegraph.  Exit  from 
Washington  to  the  north,  east,  and  west  by  rail  was  now 
impossible.  On  Sunday  night  matters  were  made  still  worse 
by  the  complete  interruption  of  the  telegraph  to  the  north. 
The  last  wire  had  been  cut.  All  the  news  which  reached 
Washington  now  came  by  way  of  the  south,  and  it  was  all 
of  the  most  disturbing  nature.  From  twelve  to  fifteen  thou 
sand  Confederates  were  reported  near  Alexandria,  and  an 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  CIVIL  WAR  39 

army  under  Jefferson  Davis  was  said  to  be  ready  to  march 
from  Richmond.  The  alarmed  citizens,  expecting  hourly  to 
be  attacked,  were  constantly  reporting  that  they  heard  can 
non  booming  from  this  or  that  direction,  or  had  seen  scouts 
prowling  around  the  outskirts  of  the  town. 

The  activity  of  the  War  Department  under  these  condi 
tions  was  extraordinary.  General  Scott  had  only  four  or 
five  thousand  men  under  arms,  but  he  proposed,  if  the  town 
was  attacked,  to  contest  possession  point  by  point,  and  he 
had  every  public  building,  including  school-houses,  barri 
caded.  At  the  Capitol,  barricades  of  cement  barrels,  sand 
bags,  and  iron  plates  such  as  were  being  used  in  the  con 
struction  of  the  dome  were  erected  ten  feet  high,  at  every  en 
trance.  In  all  his  efforts  the  General  was  assisted  by  the 
loyal  citizens.  Even  the  men  exempted  from  service  by  age 
formed  a  company  called  the  "  Silver  Grays,"  and  the  sol 
diers  of  the  War  of  1812  offered  themselves. 

By  Tuesday,  April  23,  a  new  terror  was  added  to  the 
situation — that  of  famine.  The  country  around  had  been 
scoured  for  provisions,  and  supplies  were  getting  short.  If 
Washington  was  to  be  besieged,  as  it  looked,  what  was  to  be 
done  about  food?  The  government  at  once  ordered  that 
the  flour  at  the  Georgetown  mills,  some  25,000  barrels,  be 
seized,  and  sold  according  to  the  discretion  of  the  military 
authorities. 

In  its  distress,  it  was  to  Mr.  Lincoln  that  the  city  turned. 
The  fiber  of  the  man  began  to  show  at  once.  Bayard  Taylor 
happened  to  be  in  Washington  at  the  very  beginning  of  the 
alarm,  and  called  on  the  President.  "  His  demeanor  was 
thoroughly  calm  and  collected,"  Taylor  wrote  to  the  New 
York  "  Tribune,"  "  and  he  spoke  of  the  present  crisis 
with  that  solemn,  earnest  composure  which  is  the  sign  of  a 
soul  not  easily  perturbed.  I  came  away  from  his  presence 
cheered  and  encouraged."  However,  the  suspense  of  the 


40  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

days  when  the  Capital  was  isolated,  the  expected  troops  not 
arriving,  an  hourly  attack  feared,  wore  on  Mr.  Lincoln 
greatly.  "  I  begin  to  believe,"  Mr.  Hay  heard  him  say  bit 
terly,  one  day,  to  some  Massachusetts  soldiers,  "  that  there  is 
no  North.  The  Seventh  Regiment  is  a  myth.  Rhode  Island 
js  another.  You  are  the  only  real  thing."  And  again,  after 
pacing  the  floor  of  his  deserted  office  for  a  half  hour,  he  was 
heard  to  exclaim  to  himself,  in  an  anguished  tone,  "  Why 
don't  they  come !  Why  don't  they  come !  " 

The  delay  of  the  troops  to  arrive  was,  perhaps,  the  most 
mysterious  and  terrifying  element  in  the  situation  for  Mr. 
Lincoln.  He  knew  that  several  regiments  had  started,  and 
that  the  Seventh  New  York  was  at  Annapolis,  having  come 
down  Chesapeake  Bay.  Why  they  did  not  make  a  way 
through  he  could  not  understand.  The  most  disquieting 
rumors  reached  him — now  that  an  army  had  been  raised  in 
Maryland  to  oppose  their  advance;  now  that  they  had  at 
tempted  to  come  up  the  Potomac,  and  were  aground  on  Vir 
ginia  soil.  At  last,  however,  the  long  suspense  was  broken. 
About  noon,  on  Thursday,  the  25th,  the  whole  city  was 
thrown  into  excitement  by  the  shrill  whistle  of  a  locomotive. 
A  great  crowd  gathered  at  the  station,  where  the  Seventh 
New  York  was  debarking.  The  regiment  had  worked  its 
way  from  Annapolis  to  the  city,  building  bridges  and  laying 
track  as  it  went.  Worn  and  dirty  as  the  men  were,  they 
marched  gaily  up  Pennsylvania  avenue,  through  the  crowds 
of  cheering,  weeping  people,  to  the  White  House,  where 
Mr.  Lincoln  received  them.  The  next  day,  1,200  Rhode 
Island  troops  and  the  Butler  Brigade  of  1,400  arrived.  Be 
fore  the  end  of  the  week,  there  were  said  to  be  17,000  troops 
in  the  city,  and  it  was  believed  that  the  number  could  easily 
be  increased  to  40,000.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  won  his  first  point 
He  had  soldiers  to  defend  his  Capital. 

But  it  was  evident  by  this  time  that  something-  more  was 


>*•• 


LINCOLN   EARLY   IN    1 86 1 

From  photograph  in  the  collection  of  H.  W.  Fay  of  De  Kalb,  Illinois,  taken  prob 
ably  in  Springfield  early  in  1861.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  first,  or  at  least 
one  of  the  first,  portraits  made  of  Mr.  Lincoln  after  he  began  to  wear  a  beard.  As 
is  well  known,  his  face  was  smooth  until  about  the  end  of  1860;  when  he  first  al 
lowed  his  beard  to  grow,  it  became  a  topic  of  newspaper  comment,  and  even  of 
caricature. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  CIVIL  WAR  41 

necessary  than  to  defend  Washington.  When,  on  April  15, 
Mr.  Lincoln  called  for  75,000  men  for  three  months,  he  had 
commanded  the  persons  disturbing  the  public  peace  "  to  dis 
perse  and  retire  peacefully  to  their  respective  abodes  within 
twenty  days  from  date." 

In  reply  the  South  had  marched  on  his  Capital,  cutting  it 
off  from  all  communication  with  the  North  for  nearly  a  week, 
and  had  so  threatened  Harper's  Ferry  and  Norfolk  that  to 
prevent  the  arsenal  and  shipyards  from  falling  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy,  the  Federal  commanders  had  destroyed  both 
these  fine  government  properties. 

Before  ten  of  the  twenty  days  had  passed,  it  was  plain  that 
the  order  was  worthless. 

"  I  have  desired  as  sincerely  as  any  man,  and  I  sometimes 
think  more  than  any  other  man/'  said  the  President  on  April 
27  to  a  visiting  military  company,  "  that  our  present  diffi 
culties  might  be  settled  without  the  shedding  of  blood.  I 
will  not  say  that  all  hope  has  yet  gone;  but  if  the  alternative 
is  presented  whether  the  Union  is  to  be  broken  in  fragments 
and  the  liberties  of  the  people  lost,  or  blood  be  shed,  you  will 
probably  make  the  choice  with  which  I  shall  not  be  dissatis 
fied." 

If  not  as  yet  quite  convinced  that  war  was  coming,  Mr. 
Lincoln  saw  that  it  was  so  probable  that  he  must  have  an 
army  of  something  beside  "  three  months'  men,"  for  the  very 
next  day  after  this  speech,  the  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Cam 
eron,  wrote  to  a  correspondent  that  the  President  had  de 
cided  to  add  twenty-five  regiments  to  the  regular  army. 

There  was  great  need  that  the  regular  army  be  re-enforced. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  year  it  had  numbered  16,367  men, 
but  a  large  part  of  this  force  was  in  the  West,  and  the  effi 
ciency  of  the  whole  was  greatly  weakened  by  the  desertion 
of  officers  to  the  South,  313  of  the  commissioned  officers, 
nearly  one-third  of  the  whole  number,  having  resigned.  To 


42  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

Mr.  Lincoln  s  great  satisfaction,  this  disaffection  did  not  ex 
tend  to  the  "  common  soldiers  and  common  sailors."  "  To 
the  last  man,  so  far  as  is  known,"  he  said  proudly,  "  they 
have  successfully  resisted  the  traitorous  efforts  of  those 
whose  commands,  but  an  hour  before,  they  obeyed  as  ab 
solute  law."  It  was  on  May  3  that  the  President  issued 
a  proclamation  increasing  the  regulars  by  22,714,  and  call 
ing  for  three  years'  volunteers  to  the  number  of  42,034.  But 
the  country  was  not  satisfied  to  send  so  few.  When  the  War 
Department  refused  troops  from  States  beyond  the  quota 
assigned,  Governors  literally  begged  that  they  be  allowed  to 
send  more. 

"  You  have  no  conception  of  the  depth  of  feeling  universal 
in  the  Northern  mind  for  the  prosecution  of  this  war  until 
the  flag  floats  from  every  spot  on  which  it  had  a  right  to  float 
a  year  ago,"  wrote  Galusha  A.  Grow,  on  May  5.  ... 
In  my  judgment,  the  enthusiasm  of  the  hour  ought  not 
to  be  represented  by  flat  refusals  on  the  part  of  the  govern 
ment,  but  let  them  (troops  offered  above  the  quota)  be  held 
in  readiness  (in  some  way)  in  the  States." 

A  meeting  of  the  Governors  of  the  Western  and  Border 
States  was  held  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  about  the  time  of  the 
second  call,  and  Mr.  Randall,  the  Governor  of  Wisconsin, 
wrote  to  Lincoln  on  May  6 : 

"  I  must  be  permitted  to  say  it,  because  it  is  a  fact,  there 
is  a  spirit  evoked  by  this  rebellion  among  the  liberty-loving 
people  of  the  country  that  is  driving  them  to  action,  and  if 
the  government  will  not  permit  them  to  act  for  it,  they  will 
act  for  themselves.  It  is  better  for  the  government  to  direct 
this  spirit  than  to  let  it  run  wild.  ...  If  it  was  abso 
lutely  certain  that  the  75,000  troops  first  called  would  wipe 
out  this  rebellion  in  three  weeks  from  to-day,  it  would  still 
be  the  policy  of  your  Administration,  and  for  the  best  in 
terest  of  the  government,  in  view  of  what  ought  to  be  the 


THE  BEGINNING  OP  CIVIL  WAR  43 

great  future  of  this  nation,  to  call  into  the  field  at  once 
300,000  men." 

At  the  same  time  from  Maine  W.  P.  Fessenden  wrote : 
"  Rely  upon  it,  you  cannot  at  Washington  fairly  estimate 
the  resolute  determination  existing  among  all  classes  of  peo 
ple  in  the  free  States  to  put  down  at  once  and  forever  this 
monstrous  rebellion." 

Under  this  pressure,  regiment  after  regiment  was  added 
to  the  three  years'  volunteers.  It  was  Mr.  Lincoln's  personal 
interference  which  brought  in  many  of  these  regiments. 
''  Why  cannot  Colonel  Small's  Philadelphia  regiment  be  re 
ceived?"  he  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War  on  May  21, 
"  I  sincerely  wish  it  could.  There  is  something  strange  about 
it.  Give  those  gentlemen  an  interview,  and  take  their  regi 
ment."  Again  on  June  13  he  wrote:  "There  is,  it  seems, 
a  regiment  in  Massachusetts  commanded  by  Fletcher  Web 
ster,  and  which  the  Hon.  Daniel  Webster's  old  friends  very 
much  wish  to  get  into  the  service.  If  it  can  be  received  with 
the  approval  of  your  department  and  the  consent  of  the 
Governor  of  Massachusetts,  I  shall  indeed  be  much  gratified. 
Give  Mr.  Ashmun  a  chance  to  explain  fully."  And  again  on 
June  17:  "With  your  concurrence,  and  that  of  the  Gov 
ernor  of  Indiana,  I  am  in  favor  of  accepting  into  what  we 
call  the  three  years'  service  any  number  not  exceeding  four 
additional  regiments  from  that  State.  Probably  they  should 
come  from  the  triangular  region  between  the  Ohio  and  Wa- 
bash  rivers,  including  my  own  old  boyhood  home."* 

So  rapid  was  the  increase  of  the  army  under  this  policy, 
that  on  July  i,  the  Secretary  of  War  reported  310,000  men 
at  his  command,  and  added :  "  At  the  present  moment  the 
government  presents  the  striking  anomaly  of  being  em- 

*  These  extracts  are  from  letters  to  Mr.  Cameron  found  in  a  volume 
of  the  War  Records  as  yet  unpublished.  Others  of  the  same  tenor  are 
in  the  volume. 


44  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

barrassed  by  the  generous  outpouring  of  volunteers  to  sup 
port  its  action." 

But  Mr.  Lincoln  soon  found  that  enrolling  men  does  not 
make  an  army.  He  must  uniform,  arm,  shelter,  feed,  nurse, 
and  transport  them  as  needed.  It  was  in  providing  for  the 
needs  of  the  men  that  came  so  willingly  into  service  that  the 
Administration  found  its  chief  embarrassment.  The  most 
serious  difficulty  was  in  getting  arms.  Men  could  go  ununi- 
formed,  and  sleep  in  the  open  air,  but  to  fight  they  must  have 
guns.  The  supplies  of  the  United  States  arsenals  in  the 
North  had  been  greatly  depleted  in  the  winter  of  1860  and 
1 86 1  by  transfers  to  the  South,  between  one-fifth  and  one- 
sixth  of  all  the  muskets  in  the  country  and  between  one- 
fourth  and  one-fifth  of  all  the  rifles  having  been  sent  to  the 
six  seceding  States.  The  Confederates  had  not  only  ob 
tained  a  large  share  of  government  arms,  but  through 
January,  February,  March,  April,  and  May  they  bought 
from  private  factories  in  the  North,  "  under  the  very  noses  of 
the  United  States  officers."  This  became  such  a  scandal  that 
the  Administration  had  to  send  out  an  agent  to  investigate 
the  trade.  At  the  same  time  the  Federal  ministers  abroad 
were  warning  Mr.  Lincoln  that  the  South  was  picking  up 
all  the  arms  Europe  had  to  spare,  and  the  North  was  buying 
nothing.  The  need  of  arms  opened  the  way  for  inventors, 
and  Washington  was  overrun  with  men  having  guns  to  be 
tested.  Mr.  Lincoln  took  the  liveliest  interest  in  these  new 
arms,  and  it  sometimes  happened  that,  when  an  inventor 
could  get  nobody  else  in  the  government  to  listen  to  him,  the 
President  would  personally  test  his  gun.  A  former  clerk  in 
the  Navy  Department  tells  an  incident  illustrative.  He  had 
stayed  late  one  night  at  his  desk,  when  he  heard  some  one 
striding  up  and  down  the  hall  muttering :  "  I  do  wonder  if 
they  have  gone  already  and  left  the  building  all  alone." 
Looking  out,  the  clerk  \vas  surprised  to  see  the  President, 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  CIVIL  WAR  45 

'*  Good  evening,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln.  "  I  was  just  looking 
for  that  man  who  goes  shooting  with  me  sometimes." 

The  clerk  knew  that  Mr.  Lincoln  referred  to  a  certain  mes 
senger  of  the  Ordnance  Department  who  had  been  accus 
tomed  to  going  with  him  to  test  weapons,  but  as  this  man 
had  gone  home,  the  clerk  offered  his  services.  Together  they 
went  to  the  lawn  south  of  the  White  House,  where  Mr.  Lin 
coln  fixed  up  a  target  cut  from  a  sheet  of  white  Congressional 
note-paper.  "  Then  pacing  off  a  distance  of  about  eighty 
or  a  hundred  feet,"  writes  the  clerk,  "  he  raised  the  rifle  to  a 
level,  took  a  quick  aim,  and  drove  the  round  of  seven  shots 
in  quick  succession,  the  bullets  shooting  all  around  the  target 
like  a  Catling  gun  and  one  striking  near  the  centre. 

"  *  I  believe  I  can  make  this  gun  shoot  better/  said  Mr. 
Lincoln,  after  we  had  looked  at  the  result  of  the  first  fire. 
With  this  he  took  from  his  vest  pocket  a  small  wooden  sight 
which  he  had  whittled  from  a  pine  stick,  and  adjusted  it 
over  the  sight  of  the  carbine.  He  then  shot  two  rounds,  and 
of  the  fourteen  bullets  nearly  a  dozen  hit  the  paper !  " 

It  was  in  these  early  days  of  preparing  for  war  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  interested  himself,  too,  in  experiments  with  the  bal 
loon.  He  was  one  of  the  first  persons  in  this  country  to 
receive  a  telegraphic  message  from  a  balloon  sent  up  to  make 
observations  on  an  enemy's  works.  This  experiment  was 
made  in  June,  and  so  pleased  the  President  that  the  balloonist 
was  allowed  to  continue  his  observations  from  the  Virginia 
side.  These  observations  were  successful,  and  on  June  21, 
Joseph  Henry,  the  distinguished  secretary  of  the  Smith 
sonian  Institution,  declared  in  a  report  to  the  Administration 
that,  "  from  experiments  made  here  for  the  first  time,  it  is 
conclusively  proved  that  telegrams  can  be  sent  with  ease  and 
certainty  between  the  balloon  and  the  quarters  of  the  com 
manding  officer." 

The  extraordinary  conditions  under  which  Mr.  Lincoln 


4$  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

entered  the  White  House  prevented  him  for  some  weeks 
from  adopting  anything  like  systematic  habits.  By  the  time 
of  his  second  call  for  troops,  however,  he  had  adjusted  him 
self  to  his  new  home  as  well  as  he  ever  was  able  to  do.  The 
arrangement  of  the  White  House  was  not  materially  different 
then  from  what  it  is  now.  The  entrance,  halls,  the  East 
Room,  the  Green  Room,  the  Blue  Room,  the  State  Dining- 
room,  all  were  the  same,  the  only  difference  being  in  furnish 
ings  and  decorations.  The  Lincoln  family  used  the  west  end 
of  the  second  floor  as  a  private  apartment;  the  east  end  being 
devoted  to  business.  Mr.  Lincoln's  office  was  the  large  room 
on  the  south  side  of  the  house,  between  the  office  of  Private 
Secretary  Nicolay,  at  the  southeast  corner,  and  the  room  now 
used  as  a  Cabinet-room. 

"  The  furniture  of  this  room,"  says  Mr.  Isaac  Arnold,  a 
friend  and  frequent  visitor  of  the  President,  "  consisted  of 
a  large  oak  table  covered  with  cloth,  extending  north  and 
south,  and  it  was  around  this  table  that  the  Cabinet  sat  when 
it  held  its  meetings.  Near  the  end  of  the  table  and  between 
the  windows  was  another  table,  on  the  west  side  of  which 
the  President  sat,  in  a  large  arm-chair,  and  at  this  table  he 
wrote.  A  tall  desk,  with  pigeon-holes  for  papers,  stood 
against  the  south  wall.  The  only  books  usually  found  in 
this  room  were  the  Bible,  the  United  States  Statutes  and  a 
copy  of  Shakespeare.  There  were  a  few  chairs  and  two 
plain  hair-covered  sofas.  There  were  two  or  three  map 
frames,  from  which  hung  military  maps,  on  which  the  posi 
tions  and  movements  of  the  armies  were  traced.  There  was 
an  old  and  discolored  engraving  of  General  Jackson  on  the 
mantel  and  a  later  photograph  of  John  Bright.  Doors  opened 
into  this  room  from  the  room  of  the  Secretary  and  from  the 
outside  hall,  running  east  and  west  across  the  house.  A  bell 
cord  within  reach  of  his  hand  extended  to  the  Secretary's 
office.  A  messenger  sat  at  the  door  opening  from  the  hall, 
and  took  in  the  cards  and  names  of  visitors." 

One  serious  annoyance  in  the  arrangement  of  the  business 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  CIVIL  WAR  47 

part  of  the  White  House  at  that  date  arose  from  the  fact 
that  to  reach  his  office  Mr.  Lincoln  was  obliged,  in  coming 
from  his  private  apartment,  to  pass  through  the  hall.  As 
this  hall  was  always  filled  with  persons  anxious  to  see  him, 
it  was  especially  difficult  for  a  man  of  his  informal  habits 
and  genial  nature  to  get  through.  Late  in  1864  this  difficulty 
was  remedied.  At  the  suggestion  of  one  of  his  body-guard, 
a  door  was  cut  from  the  family  library  into  the  present 
cabinet-room  and  a  light  partition  was  run  across  the 
south  end,  thus  enabling  him  to  pass  into  his  office  without 
interruption. 

Most  of  his  time,  while  President,  Mr.  Lincoln  undoubt 
edly  spent  in  his  office.  He  was  a  very  early  riser,  being 
often  at  his  desk  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  some 
times  even  going  out  on  errands  at  this  early  hour.  A  friend 
tells  of  passing  the  White  House  early  one  morning  in  the 
spring  of  1861  and  seeing  Mr.  Lincoln  standing  at  the  gate, 
looking  anxiously  up  and  down  the  street.  "  Good  morning, 
good  morning/'  he  said.  "  I  am  looking  for  a  newsboy. 
When  you  get  to  the  corner,  I  wish  you  would  send  one  up 
this  way." 

After  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  and  the  alarm  for  the 
safety  of  Washington,  the  office-seekers  fell  off  sufficiently 
for  the  President  to  announce  that  he  would  see  no  visitors 
before  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  or  after  two  in  the  after 
noon.  He  never  kept  the  rule  himself,  but  those  about  him 
did  their  best  to  keep  it  for  him.  He  was  most  informal  in 
receiving  visitors.  Sometimes  he  even  went  out  into  the  hall 
himself  to  reply  to  cards.  Ben :  Perley  Poore  says  he  did 
this  frequently  for  newspaper  men.  Indeed,  it  was  so  much 
more  natural  for  Mr.  Lincoln  to  do  things  for  himself  than 
to  call  on  others,  to  go  to  others  than  have  them  come  to  him, 
that  he  was  constantly  appearing  in  unexpected  places.  The 
place  to  which  he  went  oftenest  was  the  War  Department 


48  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

In  1 86 1,  separate  buildings  occupied  the  space  now  covered 
by  the  State,  Army,  and  Navy  Building.  The  War  Depart 
ment  stood  on  the  site  of  the  northeast  corner  of  the  present 
structure,  facing  on  Pennsylvania  avenue.  The  Navy  Build 
ing  was  south  and  in  line,  and  no  street  separated  the  White 
House  from  these  buildings,  as  now,  but  the  lawn  was  con 
tinuous,  and  a  gravel  walk  ran  from  one  to  another.  Mr. 
Lincoln  had  no  telegraph  apparatus  in  the  White  House,  so 
that  all  war  news  was  brought  to  him  from  the  War  Depart^ 
ment,  unless  he  went  after  it.  He  much  preferred  to  go 
after  it,  and  he  began  soon  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter  to 
run  over  to  the  Department  whenever  anything  important 
occurred.  Mr.  William  B.  Wilson,  of  Philadelphia,  was  in 
the  military  telegraph  office  of  the  War  Department  from  the 
first  of  May,  1861,  and  in  some  unpublished  recollections 
of  Mr.  Lincoln  he  recalls  an  incident  illustrating  admirably 
the  President's  informal  relation  to  the  telegraph  office.  Mr. 
Wilson  had  been  sent  to  the  White  House  hurriedly  to  re 
peat  an  important  message  from  an  excited  Governor. 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  considered  it  of  sufficient  importance," 
writes  Mr.  Wilson,  "  to  return  with  me  to  the  War  Depart 
ment  for  the  purpose  of  having  a  '  wire-talk '  with  the  per 
turbed  Governor.  Calling  one  of  his  two  younger  boys  to 
join  him,  we  then  started  from  the  White  House,  between 
stately  trees,  along  a  gravel  path  which  led  to  the  rear  of  the 
old  War  Department  building.  It  was  a  warm  day,  and  Mr. 
Lincoln  wore  as  part  of  his  costume  a  faded  gray  linen  duster 
which  hung  loosely  around  his  long  gaunt  frame ;  his  kindly 
eye  was  beaming  with  good  nature,  and  his  ever-thoughtful 
brow  was  unruffled.  We  had  barely  reached  the  gravel  walk 
before  he  stooped  over,  picked  up  a  round  smooth  pebble, 
and  shooting  it  off  his  thumb,  challenged  us  to  a  game  of 
'  followings/  which  we  accepted.  Each  in  turn  tried  to  hit 
the  outlying  stone,  which  was  being  constantly  projected  on 
ward  by  the  President.  The  game  was  short,  but  exciting ; 
the  cheerfulness  of  childhood,  the  ambition  of  young  man- 


THE  BEGINNING  OP  CIVIL  WAR  49 

hood,  and  the  gravity  of  the  statesman  were  all  injected  into 
it.  The  game  was  not  won  until  the  steps  of  the  War  De 
partment  were  reached.  Every  inch  of  progression  was 
toughly  contested,  and  when  the  President  was  declared 
victor,  it  was  only  by  a  hand  span.  He  appeared  to  be  as 
much  pleased  as  if  he  had  won  a  battle,  and  softened  the 
defeat  of  the  vanquished  by  attributing  his  success  to  his 
greater  height  of  person  and  longer  reach  of  arm." 

One  noticeable  feature  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  life,  at  this  time, 
was  his  relation  to  the  common  soldier.  Officers  he  re 
spected,  even  deferred  to,  but  from  the  first  arrival  of  troops 
in  Washington  it  was  the  man  on  foot,  with  a  gun  on  his 
shoulder,  that  had  Mr.  Lincoln's  heart.  Even  at  this  early 
period  the  men  found  it  out,  and  went  to  him  confidently  for 
favors  refused  elsewhere.  Thus  the  franking  of  letters  by 
Congressmen  was  one  of  the  perquisites  of  the  boys,  and 
there  are  cases  of  their  going  to  the  President  with  letters 
to  be  franked  when  they  failed  to  find,  or  were  refused  by, 
their  Congressman.  But  they  also  soon  learned  that  trivial 
pleas  or  complaints  were  met  by  rebukes  as  caustic  as  the 
help  they  received  was  genuine  when  they  had  a  just  cause. 
General  Sherman  relates  the  following  incident  that  befell 
one  day  when  he  was  riding  through  camp  with  Mr.  Lin 
coln: 

"  I  saw/'  says  the  general,  "  an  officer  with  whom  I  had 
had  a  little  difficulty  that  morning.  His  face  was  pale  and 
his  lips  compressed.  I  foresaw  a  scene,  but  sat  on  the  front 
seat  of  the  carriage  as  quiet  as  a  lamb.  The  officer  forced 
his  way  through  the  crowd  to  the  carriage,  and  said :  '  Mr. 
President,  I  have  a  cause  of  grievance.  This  morning  I  went 
to  speak  to  Colonel  Sherman,  and  he  threatened  to  shoot  me/ 
Mr.  Lincoln  said :  '  Threatened  to  shoot  you  ?  '  *  Yes,  sir, 
threatened  to  shoot  me.'  Mr.  Lincoln  looked  at  him,  then  at 
me,  and  stooping  his  tall  form  towards  the  officer,  said  to 
him,  in  a  loud  stage  whisper,  easily  heard  for  some  yards 
(4) 


50  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

around,  f  Well,  if  I  were  you,  and  he  threatened  to  shoot  me, 
I  would  not  trust  him,  for  I  believe  he  would  do  it/  " 

It  is  curious  to  note  in  the  records  of  the  time  how  soon, 
not  only  the  soldiers,  but  the  general  public  of  Washington 
discovered  the  big  heart  of  the  new  President.  A  cor 
respondent  of  the  Philadelphia  "  Press,"  in  a  letter  of  May 
23,  tells  how  he  saw  Mr.  Lincoln  one  day  sitting  in  his 
"  new  barouche  "  in  front  of  the  Treasury,  awaiting  Mr. 
Chase,  when  there  came  along  a  boy  on  crutches.  Lincoln 
immediately  called  the  boy  to  him,  asked  him  several  ques 
tions,  and  then  slipped  a  gold  piece  into  his  hands.  "  Such 
acts  of  liberality  and  disinterested  charity,"  said  the  cor 
respondent,  "  are  frequently  practiced  by  our  Executive, 
who  can  never  look  upon  distress  without  attempting  to  re 
lieve  it." 

As  soon  as  the  first  rush  of  soldiers  to  Washington  was 
over  and  the  Capital  was  comparatively  safe,  Mr.  Lincoln 
began  to  take  a  drive  every  afternoon.  It  was  among  the 
soldiers  that  he  went  almost  invariably.  Indeed,  it  was  im 
possible  to  escape  the  camps,  so  fully  was  the  city  turned 
over  to  the  military.  The  Capitol,  Inauguration  Ball-room, 
Patent  Office,  and  other  public  buildings  were  used  as  tem 
porary  quarters  for  incoming  troops.  The  Corcoran  Art 
Gallery  had  been  turned  into  a  store-house  for  army  supplies. 
A  bakery  was  established  in  the  basement  of  the  Capitol. 
The  Twelfth  New  York  was  in  Franklin  Park.  At  the 
Georgetown  College  was  another  regiment.  On  Meridian 
Hill  the  Seventh  New  York  was  stationed.  Everywhere 
were  soldiers.  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  Cabinet  officers  drove 
daily  to  one  or  another  of  these  camps.  Very  often  his  out 
ing  for  the  day  was  attending  some  ceremony  incident  to 
camp  life:  a  military  funeral,  a  camp  wedding,  a  review,  a 
flag-raising.  He  did  not  often  make  speeches.  "  I  have 
made  a  great  many  poor  speeches,"  he  said  one  day,  in  ex- 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  CIVIL  WAR  51 

cusing  himself,  "  and  I  now  feel  relieved  that  my  dignity 
does  not  permit  me  to  be  a  public  speaker." 

All  through  these  early  days  of  calling  the  army  to  Wash 
ington  there  was  little  to  make  one  feel  how  terrible  a  thing 
it  is  to  collect  and  prepare  men  for  battle.  So  far  it  was  the 
splendid  outburst  of  patriotism,  the  dash  of  adventure,  the 
holiday  gaiety  of  it  all,  which  had  impressed  the  country. 
There  were  critics  now  who  said,  as  they  had  said  before  the 
inauguration  and  again  before  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter, 
that  the  President  did  not  understand  what  was  going  on 
before  his  eyes.  General  Sherman  himself  confesses  his 
irritation  at  what  seemed  to  him  an  unbecoming  placidity  on 
the  part  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  The  General  had  just  come  from 
Louisiana.  "  How  are  they  getting  on  down  there?  "  asked 
the  President. 

"  They  are  getting  on  swimmingly,"  Sherman  replied. 
"  They  are  preparing  for  war." 

"  Oh,  well,"  Lincoln  said,  "  I  guess  we'll  manage  to  keep 
house." 

More  penetrating  observers  saw  something  else  in  the 
President,  an  inner  man,  wrestling  incessantly  with  an  awful 
problem.  N.  P.  Willis,  who  saw  him  at  one  of  the  many 
flag-raisings  of  that  spring,  records  an  impression  common 
enough  among  thoughtful  observers : 

"  There  was  a  momentary  interval,"  writes  Willis,  "  while 
the  band  played  the  '  Star-Spangled  Banner,'  and  during  this 
*  brief  waiting  for  the  word,'  all  eyes,  of  course,  were  on  the 
President's  face,  in  which  (at  least  for  those  near  enough 
to  see  it  well)  there  was  the  same  curious  problem  of  expres 
sion  which  has  been  more  than  once  noticed  by  the  close 
observer  of  that  singular  countenance — the  two-fold  working 
of  the  twofold  nature  of  the  man.  Lincoln  the  Westerner, 
slightly  humorous  but  thoroughly  practical  and  sagacious, 
was  measuring  the  '  chore  '  that  was  to  be  done,  and  wonder 
ing  whether  that  string  was  going  to  draw  that  heap  of  stuff 


$2  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

through  the  hole  in  the  top  of  the  partition,  determining  that 
it  should,  but  seeing  clearly  that  it  was  mechanically 
a  badly  arranged  job,  and  expecting  the  difficulty  that  did 
actually  occur.  Lincoln  the  President  and  statesman  was 
another  nature,  seen  in  those  abstract  and  serious  eyes,  which 
seemed  withdrawn  to  an  inner  sanctuary  of  thought,  sitting 
in  judgment  on  the  scene  and  feeling  its  far  reach  into  the 
future.  A  whole  man,  and  an  exceedingly  handy  and  joyous 
one,  was  to  hoist  the  flag,  but  an  anxious  and  reverent  and 
deep-thinking  statesman  and  patriot  was  to  stand  apart  while 
it  went  up  and  pray  God  for  its  long  waving  and  sacred  wel 
fare.  Completely,  and  yet  separately,  the  one  strange  face 
told  both  stories,  and  told  them  well." 

By  the  middle  of  May,  1861,  the  problem  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
life  was  how  to  use  the  army  he  had  called  together.  The 
capital  was  now  well  guarded.  Troops  were  at  Norfolk, 
Baltimore,  and  Harper's  Ferry,  the  points  at  which  the  Con 
federates  had  made  their  earliest  demonstrations.  The  un 
certainty  as  to  whether  Kentucky  would  leave  the  Union  had 
imperiled  the  line  of  the  Ohio  and  compelled  military  demon 
strations  at  Cincinnati  and  Cairo,  and  in  Missouri  the  strug 
gle  between  the  Northern  and  Southern  sympathizers  had 
become  so  violent  that  a  Military  Department  had  been  cre 
ated  there.  Thus  the  President  had  a  zig-zag  line  of  troops 
running  from  Missouri  eastward  to  Norfolk.  The  bulk  of  all 
the  troops  however,  were  in  and  around  Washington.  The 
North  had  been  urging  the  President,  from  the  day  it  an 
swered  his  first  call,  to  advance  the  volunteers  into  Virginia. 
"  Don't  establish  batteries  on  Georgetown  Heights,"  wrote 
Zachariah  Chandler  from  Michigan  on  April  17.  "March 
your  troops  into  Virginia.  Quarter  them  there."  Finally, 
about  the  middle  of  May,  the  President  decided  that  a  move 
ment  across  the  river  should  be  made,  the  object  being  to 
seize  the  heights  from  Arlington  south  to  Alexandria.  Mrf 
Lincoln  had  the  success  of  this  movement  deeply  at  heart* 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  CIVIL  WAR  53 

The  Confederate  flag  flying  from  a  staff  at  Alexandria  had 
been  a  constant  eyesore  to  him.  Again  and  again  he  was  seen 
standing  with  a  gloomy  face  before  one  of  the  south  win 
dows  of  the  White  House  looking  through  a  glass  at  this 
flag. 

The  time  for  the  advance  was  set  for  the  night  of  May 
23.  By  morning,  Arlington,  the  shores  of  the  Potomac 
southward,  and  the  town  of  Alexandria  were  occupied  by 
Federal  troops.  The  enemy  had  fled  at  their  approach.  The 
flag  which  had  caused  Mr.  Lincoln  so  much  pain  was  gone, 
but  its  removal  had  cost  a  life  very  precious  to  the  President. 
Young  Colonel  Ellsworth,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  officers 
in  the  volunteer  service,  a  man  whom  the  President  had 
brought  to  Washington  and  for  whom  he  felt  the  warmest 
affection,  had  been  shot. 

The  Arlington  heights  seized,  the  army  lay  for  weeks  in 
active.  The  one  movement  for  which  the  North  now  clam 
ored  was  a  march  from  Arlington  to  Richmond.  The  delay 
to  move  made  the  country  irritable  and  sarcastic.  Perhaps 
thecompletest  expression  of  the  discontent  of  the  North  with 
the  military  policy  of  the  Administration  is  found  in  the  New 
York  "  Tribune/'  For  days,  beginning  early  in  June,  that 
paper  kept  standing  at  the  head  of  its  editorial  columns  what 
it  called  "  The  Nation's  War  Cry."  "  Forward  to  Rich 
mond.  Forward  to  Richmond.  The  Rebel  Congress  must 
not  be  allowed  to  meet  there  on  the  2Oth  of  July.  By  that 
date  the  place  must  be  held  by  the  National  Army." 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  as  anxious  for  a  successful  movement 
southward  as  any  man  in  the  country ;  but  for  some  time  he 
resisted  the  popular  outcry,  giving  his  generals  the  oppor 
tunity  to  make  ready  for  which  they  begged.  At  last,  to 
wards  the  end  of  June,  he  decided  that  an  advance  must  be 
made,  and  he  summoned  his  Cabinet  and  the  leading  mili 
tary  men  near  Washington  to  meet  him  on  the  evening  of 


54  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

June  29  and  discuss  the  advisability  of  and  the  plans  for 
an  immediate  attack  on  the  enemy's  army,  then  entrenched 
at  Manassas  Junction,  some  twenty  miles  southwest  of 
Washington.  The  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army,  Gen 
eral  Scott,  opposed  the  advance.  He  had  another  plan  of 
campaign;  the  army  was  not  ready.  But  Mr.  Lincoln  in 
sisted  that  the  country  demanded  a  movement,  and  that  if 
the  Federal  army  was  "  green,"  so  was  that  of  the  Con 
federates.  General  Scott  waived  his  objections,  and  the  ad 
vance  was  ordered  for  July  9. 

Before  the  battle  came  off,  however,  the  President  wished 
to  impress  again  on  the  North  what  it  was  fighting  for.  On 
July  4,  when  he  sent  his  message  to  Congress,  which  he  had 
summoned  in  extra  session,  he  put  before  them  clearly  his 
theory  of  and  justification  for  the  war. 

"  This  is  essentially  a  people's  contest.  On  the  side  of  the 
Union  it  is  a  struggle  for  maintaining  in  the  world  that 
form  and  substance  of  government  whose  leading  object  is  to 
elevate  the  condition  of  men — to  lift  artificial  weights  from 
all  shoulders ;  to  clear  the  paths  of  laudable  pursuits  for  all ; 
to  afford  all  an  unfettered  start,  and  a  fair  chance  in  the  race 
of  life.  Yielding  to  partial  and  temporary  departure'  from 
necessity,  this  is  the  leading  object  of -the  government  for 
whose  existence  we  contend.  .  .  . 

"  Our  popular  government  has  often  been  called  an  ex 
periment.  Two  points  in  it  our  people  have  already  settled — 
the  successful  establishing  and  the  successful  administering 
of  it.  One  still  remains — its  successful  maintenance  against 
a  formidable  internal  attempt  to  overthrow  it.  It  is  now  for 
them  to  demonstrate  to  the  world  that  those  who  can  fairly 
carry  an  election  can  also  suppress  a  rebellion ;  that  ballots 
are  the  rightful  and  peaceful  successors  of  bullets ;  and  that 
when  ballots  have  fairly  and  constitutionally  decided,  there 
can  be  no  successful  appeal  back  to  bullets ;  that  there  can  be 
no  successful  appeal  except  to  ballots  themselves  at  succeed 
ing  elections.  Such  will  be  a  great  lesson  of  peace ;  teaching 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  CIVIL  WAR  55 

men  that  what  they  cannot  take  by  election,  neither  can 
they  take  it  by  a  war ;  teaching  all  the  folly  of  being  the  be 
ginners  of  a  war.  .  .  . 

"  As  a  private  citizen  the  executive  could  not  have  con 
sented  that  the  institutions  of  this  country  shall  perish ;  much 
less  could  he,  in  betrayal  of  so  vast  and  so  sacred  a  trust  as 
the  free  people  have  confided  to  him.  He  felt  that  he  had  no 
moral  right  to  shrink,  nor  even  to  count  the  chances  of  his 
own  life  in  what  might  follow.  In  full  view  of  his  great 
responsibility  he  has,  so  far,  done  what  he  has  deemed  his 
duty.  You  will  now,  according  to  your  own  judgment,  per 
form  yours.  He  sincerely  hopes  that  your  views  and  your 
actions  may  so  accord  with  his,  as  to  assure  all  faithful  citi 
zens  who  have  been  disturbed  in  their  rights  of  a  certain  and 
speedy  restoration  to  them,  under  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws. 

"  And  having  thus  chosen  our  course,  without  guile  and 
with  pure  purpose,  let  us  renew  our  trust  in  God,  and  go  for 
ward  without  fear  and  with  manly  hearts." 

With  these  words  Mr.  Lincoln  started  the  first  War  Con 
gress  on  its  duties  and  the  Army  of  Northeastern  Virginia 
towards  Bull  Run. 

The  advance  of  the  Federals  from  Arlington  towards  Ma- 
nassas  Junction  had  been  ordered  for  July  9.  For  one  and 
another  reason,  however,  it  w7as  July  21  before  the  army 
was  ready  to  attack.  The  day  was  Sunday,  a  brilliant,  hot 
Washington  day.  Anxious  as  Mr.  Lincoln  was  over  the 
coming  battle,  he  went  to  church  as  usual.  It  was  while  he 
was  there  that  a  distant  roar  of  cannon,  the  first  sounds  of 
the  battle,  only  twenty  miles  away,  reached  him.  Returning 
to  the  White  House  after  the  services,  the  President's  first  in 
quiry  was  for  news.  Telegrams  had  just  begun  to  come  in. 
They  continued  at  intervals  all  the  afternoon — broken  re 
ports  from  now  this,  now  that,  part  of  the  field.  Although 
fragmentary,  they  were  as  a  whole  encouraging.  The  Presi 
dent  studied  them  carefully,  and  after  a  time  went  over  to 


56  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

General  Scott's  headquarters  to  talk  the  news  over  with  him 
By  half-past  five  he  felt  so  sure  that  the  field  was  won  that 
he  went  out  for  his  usual  afternoon  drive.  What  happened 
at  the  White  House  then  the  only  eye  witnesses,  his  secre 
taries,  have  told  in  their  History : 

"  He  had  not  returned  when,  at  six  o'clock,  Secretary  Sew- 
ard  came  to  the  Executive  Mansion,  pale  and  haggard. 
'  Where  is  the  President  ?  '  he  asked  hoarsely  of  the  private 
secretaries.  '  Gone  to  drive,'  they  answered.  '  Have  you 
any  late  news  ?  '  he  continued.  They  read  him  the  telegrams 
which  announced  victory.  '  Tell  no  one/  said  he.  '  That 
is  not  true.  The  battle  is  lost.  The  telegraph  says  that  Mc 
Dowell  is  in  full  retreat  and  calls  on  General  Scott  to  save 
the  capital.  Find  the  President  and  tell  him  to  come  imme 
diately  to  General  Scott's.' 

"  Half  an  hour  later  the  President  returned  from  his  drive, 
and  his  private  secretaries  gave  him  Seward's  message,  the 
first  intimation  he  received  of  the  trying  news.  He  listened 
in  silence,  without  the  slightest  change  of  feature  or  expres 
sion,  and  walked  away  to  army  headquarters.  There  he  read 
the  unwelcome  report  in  a  telegram  from  a  captain  of  engi 
neers  :  '  General  McDowell's  army  in  full  retreat  through 
Centreville.  The  day  is  lost.  Save  Washington  and  the 
remnants  of  this  army.  .  .  The  routed  troops  will  not 
reform.' ' 

From  that  time  on,  for  at  least  twenty-four  hours,  a  con 
tinuous  stream  of  tales  of  disaster  was  poured  upon  Mr.  Lin 
coln.  A  number  of  public  men  had  gone  from  Washington 
to  see  the  battle.  Ex- Senator  Dawes,  who  was  among  them, 
says  that  General  Scott  urged  him  to  go,  telling  him  that  it 
was  undoubtedly  the  only  battle  he  would  ever  have  a  chance 
to  see.  About  midnight  they  began  to  return.  They  came 
in  haggard,  worn,  and  horror-stricken,  and  a  number  of 
them  repaired  to  the  White  House,  where  Mr.  Lincoln,  lying 
on  his  office  sofa,  listened  to  their  tales  of  the  panic  that  had 
seized  the  army  about  four  in  the  afternoon  and  of  the  re^ 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  CIVIL  WAR  5? 

treat  that  had  followed.  All  of  those  who  returned  that 
night  to  Washington  were  positive  that  the  Confederates 
would  attack  the  city  before  morning. 

The  events  of  the  next  day  were  no  less  harrowing  to  Mr. 
Lincoln  than  those  of  the  night.  A  drizzling  rain  was  fall 
ing,  and  from  daybreak  there  could  be  seen,  crowding  and 
staggering  across  the  Long  Bridge,  hundreds  of  soldiers,  civ 
ilians,  negroes,  and  horses.  Hour  by  hour  the  streets  of  the 
city  grew  fuller.  On  the  corners  white-faced  women  stood 
beside  boilers  of  coffee,  feeding  the  exhausted  men.  Now 
and  then  the  remnants  of  a  regiment  or  company  which 
somehow  had  kept  together  marched  up  the  street,  mud- 
splashed  and  dejected.  One  of  the  most  pathetic  sights  of  the 
day  was  the  return  of  Burnside  and  his  men.  The  regiment 
and  its  handsome  general  had  been  one  of  the  town's  de 
lights.  Now  they  came  back  broken  in  numbers  and  so  over 
come  with  fatigue  that  man  after  man  dropped  in  the  streets 
as  he  marched,  while  slowly  in  front,  his  head  on  his  breast, 
the  reins  on  the  neck  of  his  exhausted  horse,  rode  Burnside. 

Before  Monday  night,  it  was  known  that  the  enemy  was 
not  following  up  his  advantage.  Two  days  later  the  Union 
army  was  reintrenched  on  Arlington  heights.  A  revulsion 
of  feeling  had  already  begun.  The  effort  to  make  out  the 
rout  to  be  as  complete  and  terrible  as  it  could  be,  was  fol 
lowed  by  an  attempt  to  show  that  it  was  nothing  but  a  panic 
among  teamsters  and  sight-seers.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  asked  to 
listen  to  a  number  of  these  explanations.  "  Ah,  I  see,"  he 
said  to  one  vindicator  of  the  day,  "  we  whipped  the  enemy, 
and  then  ran  away  from  him." 

Explanations  of  the  Battle  of  Bull  Run  did  not  interest  the 
President.  He  was  giving  his  whole  mind  to  repairing  the 
disaster.  Two  days  later,  July  23,  he  wrote  out  the  follow 
ing  "  Memoranda  of  Military  Policy  suggested  by  the  Bull 
Run  Defeat."  Nicolay  and  Hay,  to  whose  history  we  owe 


58  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

this  document,  say  that  the  President  made  the  first  notes 
of  this  "  policy  "  while  men  were  bringing  him  news  of  the 
disaster. 

1.  Let  the  plan  for  making  the  blockade  effective  be 
pushed  forward  with  all  possible  dispatch. 

2.  Let  the  volunteer  forces  at  Fort  Monroe  and  vicinity 
under  General  Butler  be  constantly  drilled,  disciplined,  and 
instructed  without  more  for  the  present. 

3.  Let  Baltimore  be  held  as  now,  with  a  gentle  but  firm 
and  certain  hand. 

4.  Let   the   force  now   under   Patterson   or   Banks   be 
strengthened  and  made  secure  in  its  position. 

5.  Let  the  forces  in  Western  Virginia  act  till  further  or 
ders  according  to  instructions  or  orders  from  General  Mc- 
Clellan. 

6.  Let  General  Fremont  push  forward  his  organization 
and  operations  in  the  West  as  rapidly  as  possible,  giving 
rather  special  attention  to  Missouri. 

7.  Let  the  forces  late  before  Manassas,  except  the  three 
months'  men,  be  reorganized  as  rapidly  as  possible  in  their 
camps  here  and  about  Arlington. 

8.  Let  the  three  months'  forces  who  decline  to  enter  the 
longer  service  be  discharged  as  rapidly  as  circumstances  will 
permit. 

9.  Let  the  new  volunteer  forces  be  brought  forward  as 
fast  as  possible;   and  especially  into  the  camps  on  the  two 
sides  of  the  river  here. 

July  27,  1 86 1. 

When  the  foregoing  shall  be  substantially  attended  to : 

1.  Let  Manassas  Junction  (or  some  point  on  one  or  other 
of  the  railroads  near  it)  and  Strasburg  be  seized,  ar>d  per 
manently  held,  with  an  open  line  from  Washington  to  Ma 
nassas,  and  an  open  line  from  Harper's  Ferry  to  Strasburg — 
the  military  men  to  find  the  way  of  doing  these. 

2.  This  done,  a  joint  movement  from  Cairo  on  Memphis; 
and  from  Cincinnati  on  East  Tennessee. 

It  was  to  points  7,  8  and  9  of  the  above  memorandum  that 
the  President  gave  his  first  attention. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  CIVIL  WAR  59 

Congress,  prostrated  as  it  was  by  the  unexpected  defeat, 
stood  by  Lincoln  bravely,  voting  him  men  and  money.  Re 
sources  he  was  not  going  to  lack.  The  confidence  of  the 
country  was  what  he  needed.  To  stimulate  this  confidence, 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  advisers  summoned  to  Washington,  on 
July  22,  George  B.  McClellan,  the  only  man  who  had  thus 
far  accomplished  anything  in  the  war  on  which  the  North 
looked  with  pride,  and  asked  him  to  take  the  command  of 
the  demoralized  army.  A  more  effective  move  could  not 
have  been  made. 

McClellan  was  a  West  Point  graduate  who  had  seen  serv 
ice  in  the  Mexican  War,  but  who,  in  the  spring  of  1861  held 
a  position  as  a  railroad  president.  His  home  was  in  Cincin 
nati.  After  the  fall  of  Sumter  the  fear  of  invasion  spread 
rapidly  westward  from  Washington.  On,  April  21  the 
Governor  of  Ohio  wired  the  Secretary  of  War  that  he  desired 
a  suitable  United  States  officer  to  be  detailed  at  once  to  take 
command  of  the  volunteers  of  Cincinnati  and  to  provide  for 
the  defense  of  that  city,  and  the  next  day  several  leading  men 
wired  that  the  "  People  of  Cincinnati "  wished  Captain 
McClellan  to  be  appointed  to  the  position. 

A  month  later,  when  West  Virginia  had  decided  to  stay 
with  the  Union  and  Eastern  Virginia  had  decided  to  coerce 
her  to  remain  with  the  South,  McClellan,  who  had  been  put 
in  charge  of  the  Ohio  troops  as  his  friends  requested,  was 
ordered  to  protect  the  Unionists  of  the  section  against  the 
Southern  army.  Early  in  July  he  undertook  an  offensive 
campaign  against  the  enemy,  completely  driving  him  from 
the  country  in  less  than  three  weeks.  McClellan  announced 
his  victories  in  a  series  of  addresses  which  thrilled  the  North. 
They  saw  in  him  a  great  general,  a  second  Napoleon  and 
were  satisfied  when  he  was  put  in  charge  of  the  army  that  the 
disgrace  of  Bull  Run  would  be  speedily  wiped  out. 

While  occupied  in  reorganizing  and  increasing  the  army, 


60  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

Mr.  Lincoln  did  his  best  to  improve  the  morale  of  officers 
and  men.  One  of  the  first  things  he  did,  in  fact,  after  the 
battle  was  to  "  run  over  and  see  the  boys,"  as  he  expressed 
it.  General  Sherman,  who  was  with  Mr.  Lincoln  as  he 
drove  about  the  camps  on  this  visit,  says  that  he  made  one  of 
the  "  neatest,  best,  and  most  feeling  addresses  "  he  ever  lis 
tened  to,  and  that  its  effect  on  the  troops  was  "  excellent." 
As  often  as  he  could  after  this,  Mr.  Lincoln  went  to  the  Ar 
lington  camps.  Frequently  in  these  visits  he  left  his  car 
riage  and  walked  up  and  down  the  lines  shaking  hands  with 
the  men,  repeating  heartily  as  he  did  so,  "  God  bless  you, 
God  bless  you."  Before  a  month  had  passed,  he  saw  that 
under  McClellan's  training  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  as  it 
had  come  to  be  called,  had  recovered  almost  completely  from 
the  panic  of  Bull  Run,  and  that  it  was  growing  every  day  in 
efficiency.  But  scarcely  had  his  anxiety  over  the  condition 
of  things  around  Washington  been  allayed,  before  a  grave 
problem  was  raised  in  the  West.  The  severest  criticisms  be 
gan  to  come  to  him  on  the  conduct  of  a  man  whom  he  had 
made  a  major-general  and  whom  he  had  put  in  command 
of  the  important  Western  division,  John  C.  Fremont.  The 
force  of  these  criticisms  was  intensified  by  serious  disasters 
to  the  Union  troops  in  Missouri. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  FAILURE  OF  FREMONT LINCOLN^  FIRST  DIFFICULTIES 

WITH  McCLELLAN THE  DEATH  OF  WILLIE  LINCOLN 

THE  most  popular  military  appointment  Lincoln  made  be 
fore  McClellan  was  that  of  John  C.  Fremont  to  the  command 
of  the  Department  of  the  West.  Republicans  appreciated  it, 
for  had  not  Fremont  been  the  first  candidate  of  their  party 
for  the  Presidency?  The  West  was  jubilant :  Fremont's  ex 
plorations  had  years  before  made  him  the  hero  of  the  land 
along  the  Mississippi.  The  cabinet  was  satisfied,  particularly 
Postmaster-General  Blair,  whose  "  pet  and  protege "  Fre 
mont  was.  Lincoln  himself  "  thought  well  of  Fremont," 
believed  he  could  do  the  work  to  be  done;  and  he  had  al 
ready  had  experience  enough  to  discern  that  his  great  trou 
ble  was  to  be,  not  finding  major-generals — he  had  more  pegs 
than  holes  to  put  them  in,  he  said  one  day — but  finding  ma 
jor-generals  who  could  do  the  thing  they  were  ordered  to  do. 

Fremont  had  gone  to  his  headquarters  at  St.  Louis,  Mis 
souri,  late  in  July.  Before  a  month  had  passed,  the  gravest 
charges  of  incompetency  and  neglect  of  duty  were  being 
made  against  him.  It  was  even  intimated  to  the  President 
that  the  General  was  using  his  position  to  work  up  a  North 
western  Confederacy.*  Mr.  Lincoln  had  listened  to  all  these 

*  Dr.  Emil  Preetorius,  editor  of  the  "  Westliche  Post "  of  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  said  of  this  charge,  in  an  interview  for  this  work :  "  I  know  that 
Fremont  gave  no  countenance  to  any  scheme  which  others  may  have 
conceived  for  the  establishment  of  a  Northwestern  Confederacy.  I  had 
abundant  proof,  through  the  years  that  I  knew  him,  that  he  was  a  patriot 
and  a  most  unselfish  man.  The  de_fect  in  Fremont  was  that  he  was  a 
dreamer.  Impractical,  visionary  things  went  a  long  way  with  him.  He 
was  a  poor  judge  of  men  and  formed  strange  associations.  He  sur 
rounded  himself  with  foreigners,  especially  Hungarians,  most  of  whom 

61 


62  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

charges,  but  taken  no  action,  when,  on  the  morning  of  Aug 
ust  30,  he  was  amazed  to  read  it  in  his  newspaper  that  Fre 
mont  had  issued  a  proclamation  declaring,  among  other 
things,  that  the  property,  real  and  personal,  of  all  the  per 
sons  in  the  State  of  Missouri  who  should  take  up  arms 
against  the  United  States,  or  who  should  be  directly  proved 
to  have  taken  an  active  part  with  its  enemies  in  the  field, 
would  be  confiscated  to  public  use  and  their  slaves,  if  they 
had  any,  declared  freemen. 

Fremont's  proclamation  astonished  the  country  as  much 
as  it  did  the  President.  In  the  North  it  elicited  almost  uni 
versal  satisfaction.  This  was  striking  at  the  root  of  the 
trouble — slavery.  But  in  the  Border  States,  particularly  in 
Kentucky,  the  Union  party  was  dismayed.  The  only  possi 
ble  method  of  keeping  those  sections  in  the  Union  was  not 
to  interfere  with  slavery.  Mr.  Lincoln  saw  this  as  clearly 
as  his  Border  State  supporters.  It  was  well  known  that  this 
was  his  policy.  He  felt  that  Fremont  had  not  only  defied 
the  policy  of  the  administration,  he  had  usurped  power  which 
belonged  only  to  the  legislative  part  of  the  government.  He 
had  a  good  excuse  for  reprimanding  the  general,  even  for 
removing  him.  Instead,  he  wrote  him,  on  September  2,  a 
most  kindly  letter : 

I  think  there  is  great  danger  that  the  closing  paragraph 
[of  the  proclamation],  in  relation  to  the  confiscation  of 
property  and  the  liberating  slaves  of  traitorous  owners,  will 


were  adventurers  and  some  of  whom  were  swindlers.  I  struggled  hard 
to  persuade  him  not  to  fet  these  men  have  so  much  to  do  with  his  ad 
ministration.  Mrs.  Fremont,  unlike  the  General,  was  most  practical. 
She  was  fond  of  success.  She  and  the  General  were  alike,  however,  in 
their  notions  of  the  loyalty  due  between  friends.  Once,  when  I  pro 
tested  against  the  character  of  the  men  who  surrounded  Fremont,  she 
replied :  *  Do  you  know  these  very  men  went  out  with  us  on  horseback 
when  we  took  possession  of  the  Mariposa?  They  risked  their  lives  for 
us.  Now  we  can't  go  back  on  them.'  It  was  the  woman's  feeling.  She 
forgot  that  brave  men  may  sometimes  be  downright  thieves  and  rob 
bers." 


THE  FAILURE  OF  FREMONT  63 

alarm  our  Southern  Union  friends  and  turn  them  against 
us ;  perhaps  ruin  our  rather  fair  prospect  for  Kentucky.  Al 
low  me,  therefore,  to  ask  that  you  will,  as  of  your  own  mo 
tion,  modify  that  paragraph  so  as  to  conform  to  the  first  and 
fourth  sections  of  the  act  of  Congress  entitled,  "  An  act  to 
confiscate  property  used  for  insurrectionary  purposes,"  ap 
proved  August  6,  1 86 1,  and  a  copy  of  which  act  I  herewith 
send  you. 

This  letter  is  written  in  a  spirit  of  caution,  and  not  of  cen 
sure.  I  send  it  by  special  messenger,  in  order  that  it  may 
certainly  and  speedily  reach  you. 

But  Lincoln  did  more  than  this.  Without  waiting  for 
Fremont's  reply  to  the  above,  he  went  over  carefully  all  the 
criticisms  on  the  General's  administration,  in  order  to  see 
if  he  could  help  him.  His  conclusion  was  that  Fremont  was 
isolating  himself  too  much  from  men  who  were  interested 
in  the  same  cause,  and  so  did  not  know  what  was  going  on 
in  the  very  matter  he  was  dealing  with.  That  Mr.  Lincoln 
hit  the  very  root  of  Fremont's  difficulty  is  evident  from  the 
testimony  of  the  men  who  were  with  the  General  in  Mis 
souri  at  the  time.  Colonel  George  E.  Leighton  of  St.  Louis, 
who  became  provost-marshal  of  the  city  in  the  fall  of  1861, 
says: 

Fremont  isolated  himself,  and,  unlike  Grant,  Halleck,  and 
others  of  like  rank,  was  unapproachable.  When  Halleck 
came  here  to  assume  command  and  called  on  Fremont,  he 
was  accompanied  simply  by  a  member  of  his  staff ;  but  when 
Fremont  returned  the  call,  he  rode  down  with  great  pomp 
and  ceremony,  escorted  by  his  staff  an4  bodyguard  of  one 
hundred  men. 

General  B.  G.  Farrar  recounts  his  experience  in  trying  to 
get  an  important  message  to  Fremont  from  General  Lyon, 
who  was  at  Springfield  with  an  insufficient  force: 

Word  was  returned  to  me  that  General  Fremont  was  very 
busy,  that  he  could  not  receive  the  dispatch  then,  and  re- 


04  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

quested  me  to  call  in  the  afternoon.  I  called  in  the  after 
noon,  and  was  again  told  that  General  Fremont  was  very 
busy.  Three  days  passed  before  I  succeeded  in  obtaining  an 
audience  with  Fremont.  As  commander  of  the  department 
Fremont  assumed  all  the  prerogatives  of  an  absolute  ruler. 
The  approach  to  his  headquarters  was  through  a  long  line 
of  guards.  There  were  guards  at  the  corners  of  the  streets, 
guards  at  the  gate,  guards  at  the  door,  guards  at  the  entrance 
to  the  adjutant-general's  office,  and  a  whole  regiment  of 
troops  in  the  barracks  adjacent  to  his  headquarters.  I  saw 
his  order  making  Colonel  Harding  of  the  home  guard  a 
brigadier-general.  This  was  done  without  consultation 
with  the  President  and  without  authority  of  law.  The  Czar 
of  Russia  could  hardly  be  more  absolute  in  his  authority  than 
Fremont  assumed  to  be  at  St.  Louis.  .  .  .  Fremont  never 
asked  Washington  for  authority  to  do  a  thing.  While  at 
St.  Louis  Fremont  visited  nobody,  so  far  as  I  know.  When 
he  went  forth  from  his  headquarters  at  all  he  went  under  the 
escort  of  his  bodyguard  and  a  staff  brilliantly  uniformed. 
When  he  removed  his  headquarters  to  Jefferson  City  he  went 
on  a  special  train,  with  all  the  trappings  and  surroundings  of 
a  royal  potentate.  ..." 

Having  made  up  his  mind  what  Fremont's  fault  was,  Lin 
coln  asked  General  David  Hunter  to  go  to  Missouri.  "  He 
[Fremont]  needs  to  have  at  his  side  a  man  of  large  experi 
ence/'  he  wrote  to  Hunter.  "  Will  you  not,  for  me,  take 
that  place  ?  Your  rank  is  one  grade  too  high  to  be  ordered 
to  it,  but  will  you  not  serve  the  country  and  oblige  me  by 
taking  it  voluntarily  ?  "  At  the  same  time  that  Hunter  was 
asked  to  go  to  Fremont's  relief,  Postmaster-General  Blair 
went  to  St.  Louis,  with  the  President's  approbation,  to  talk 
with  the  General  "  as  a  friend." 

In  the  meantime,  Lincoln's  letter  of  September  2  had 
reached  Fremont.  After  a  few  days  the  General  replied  that 
he  wished  the  President  himself  would  make  the  general  or 
der  modifying  the  clause  of  the  proclamation  which  referred 
to  the  liberation  of  slaves.  This  letter  he  sent  by  his  wife, 


THE  FAILURE  OF  FREMONT  65 

Jessie  Benton  Fremont,  a  woman  of  ambition  and  great  en 
ergy  of  character.  "  While  Fremont  was  in  command  of 
the  Department,  Mrs.  Fremont  was  the  real  chief  of  staff," 
says  Col.  Geo.  F.  Leighton.  "  She  was  a  woman  of  strong 
personality,  having  inherited  much  of  the  brains  and  force 
of  character  which  distinguished  her  father,  Senator  Ben- 
ton."  "  Mrs.  Fremont  was  much  like  her  father,"  says  Judge 
Clover  of  St.  Louis.  "  She  was  intellectual  and  possessed 
great  force  of  will."  She  started  East  deeply  indignant  that 
Mr.  Lincoln  should  ask  her  husband  to  modify  his  procla 
mation.  When  she  reached  Washington,  she  learned  that 
Mr.  Blair  had  gone  to  St.  Louis.  Jumping  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  was  with  an  order  to  remove  her  husband  she  hastened 
to  Mr.  Lincoln.  It  was  midnight,  but  the  President  gave 
her  an  audience.  Without  waiting  for  an  explanation,  she 
violently  charged  him  with  sending  an  enemy  to  Missouri, 
to  look  into  Fremont's  case  and  threatening  that  if  Fremont 
desired  to  he  could  set  up  a  government  for  himself.  "  I 
had  to  exercise  all  the  rude  tact  I  have  to  avoid  quarrelling 
with  her,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln  afterwards. 

The  day  after  this  interview  Lincoln  sent  the  order  modi 
fying  the  clause  as  Fremont  had  requested.  When  this  was 
made  public,  a  perfect  storm  of  denunciation  broke  over  the 
President.  The  whole  North  felt  outraged.  There  was  talk 
of  impeaching  Lincoln  and  of  replacing  him  with  Fremont. 
Great  newspapers  criticised  his  action,  warning  him  to  learn 
whither  he  was  tending.  Influential  men  in  all  professions 
spoke  bitterly  of  his  action.  "  How  many  times,"  wrote 
James  Russell  Lowell  to  Miss  Norton,  "  are  we  to  save  Ken 
tucky  and  lose  our  self-respect?"  The  hardest  of  these 
criticisms  for  Lincoln  to  bear  were  those  from  his  old  friends 
in  Illinois,  nearly  all  of  whom  supported  Fremont. 

The  general  supposition  throughout  the  country  at  this 
time  was  that  the  President  would  remove  Fremont.    He, 
(5) 


66  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

however,  had  no  idea  of  dismissing  the  General  on  the 
ground  of  the  proclamation,  and  he  hoped,  as  he  wrote  to 
Senator  Browning,  that  no  real  necessity  existed  for  it  on 
any  ground.  The  hope  was  vain.  Disasters  to  the  Union 
army,  the  evident  result  of  the  General's  inefficiency,  and 
positive  proofs  of  corruption  in  the  management  of  the  finan 
cial  affairs  of  the  Department,  multiplied.  In  spite  of  ex 
postulations  and  threats  from  Fremont's  supporters,  Lincoln 
decided  to  remove  him.  But  he  would  not  do  it  without 
giving  him  a  last  chance.  In  sending  the  order  for  his  re 
moval  and  the  appointment  of  General  Hunter  to  his  place, 
he  directed  that  it  was  not  to  be  delivered  if  there  was  any 
evidence  that  Fremont  had  fought,  or  was  about  to  fight,  a 
battle.  It  was  not  only  Lincoln's  sense  of  justice  which  led 
him  to  give  a  last  chance  to  Fremont ;  it  was  a  part  of  that 
far-seeing  political  wisdom  of  his — not  to  displace  men  until 
they  themselves  had  demonstrated  their  unfitness  so  clearly 
that  even  their  friends  must  finally  agree  that  he  had  done 
right. 

It  was  generally  believed  in  Missouri  that  Fremont  had 
decided  to  receive  no  bearer  of  despatches,  so  that  if  the 
President  did  remove  him  he  could  say  that  he  never  had 
been  informed  of  the  fact.  General  Curtis,  to  whom  Lin 
coln  forwarded  his  order  by  his  friend  Leonard  Swett 
knowing  this,  sent  copies  by  three  separate  messengers  to 
Fremont's  headquarters.  The  one  who  delivered  it  first  was 
General  T.  I.  McKenny,  now  of  Olympia,  Washington.  His 
story,  written  out  for  this  work,  is  good  evidence  of  the  pass 
to  which  things  had  come  in  Fremont's  department : 

About  three  o'clock  at  night,  on  October  27,  1861,  I  think 
it  was,  I  was  awakened  by  a  messenger  stating  that  General 
Curtis  desired  to  see  me  at  his  headquarters.  I  found  Leon 
ard  Swett  there  with  the  General,  who  informed  me  that  he 
had  an  important  message  from  the  President  to  be  taken 


THE  FAILURE  OP  FREMONT  67 

to  General  Fremont,  then  in  the  field,  it  not  being  known 
where.  I  was  shown  the  order  that  I  was  to  convey,  that 
General  Fremont  was  relieved  of  his  command  of  the  De 
partment  of  the  West  and  General  Hunter  placed  tempo 
rarily  in  his  stead.  Aside  from  this,  I  had  special  instruc 
tions  which  I  understood  were  Mr.  Lincoln's  own — 

ist.  If  General  Fremont  had  fought  and  gained  a  decided 
victory — not  a  mere  skirmish — then  not  to  deliver  the  mes 
sage. 

2d.  If  he  was  in  the  immediate  presence  of  the  enemy  and 
about  to  begin  a  battle,  not  to  deliver  it. 

3d.  If  neither  of  these  conditions  prevailed,  to  deliver  it 
and  to  make  it  known  immediately,  as  it  was  thought  that  he 
was  determined  to  receive  no  orders  superseding  him. 

I  immediately  went  to  St.  Louis,  waked  up  a  second-hand 
dealer  in  clothing  and  fitted  myself  out  as  a  Southern  planter, 
and  then  took  the  train  for  Rolla,  Missouri.  There  I  secured 
horses  and  a  guide,  and  about  two  o'clock  at  night  rode  rap 
idly  south  in  the  direction  of  Springfield,  Missouri,  where  I 
expected  to  find  Fremont.  I  rode  this  distance  principally 
in  the  night,  passing  through  the  small  rebel  towns  at  a  very 
rapid  gait.  About  117  miles  from  Rolla  I  reached  the  outer 
cordon  of  Fremont's  pickets.  Here  I  had  difficulty  getting 
through  the  lines,  as  the  instructions  to  the  guard  were  very 
stringent.  When  I  finally  got  in,  there  being  no  immediate 
prospects  of  a  battle,  I  straightway  made  my  way  to  Fre 
mont's  headquarters,  where  I  met  the  officer  of  the  day,  who 
told  me  that  I  could  not  see  General  Fremont,  but  that  he 
would  introduce  me  to  his  chief  of  staff,  Colonel  Eaton.  The 
latter  also  told  me  that  I  could  not  see  the  General ;  but  if  I 
would  make  my  business  known  to  him,  that  he  would  com 
municate  it  to  Fremont.  This  I  positively  refused  to  do. 
He  returned  to  Fremont,  and  communicated  what  I  had  said, 
but  it  had  no  effect.  Late  in  the  evening,  however,  I  was 
hunted  up  by  Colonel  Eaton,  who  took  me  to  General  Fre 
mont's  office. 

The  General  was  sitting  at  the  end  of  quite  a  long  table 
facing  the  door  by  which  I  entered.  I  never  can  forget  the 
appearance  of  the  man  as  he  sat  there,  with  his  piercing  eye, 
and  his  hair  parted  in  the  middle.  I  ripped  from  my  coat 


r68  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

lining  the  document,  which  had  been  sewed  in  there,  and 
handed  the  same  to  him,  which  he  nervously  took  and  opened. 
He  glanced  at  the  superscription,  and  then  at  the  signature  at 
the  bottom,  not  looking  at  the  contents.  A  frown  came  over 
his  brow,  and  he  slammed  the  paper  down  on  the  table,  and 
said,  "  Sir,  how  did  you  get  admission  into  my  lines?  "  I 
told  him  that  I  had  come  in  as  a  messenger  bearing  informa 
tion  from  the  rebel  lines.  He  waved  me  out,  saying,  "  That 
will  do  for  the  present." 

I  had  orders  to  make  the  contents  of  the  document  known 
as  soon  as  delivered.  The  first  man  I  met  was  General  Stur- 
gis,  to  whom  I  gave  the  information.  I  was  then  overtaken 
by  the  chief  of  staff,  Eaton,  who  said  that  General  Fremont 
was  much  disappointed  with  the  communication,  as  he  had 
thought  that  I  had  information  from  the  rebel  forces,  and 
that  he  requested  me  not  to  make  the  message  known  for  the 
present. 

I  then  told  Colonel  Eaton  that  I  had  important  despatches 
for  General  Hunter  and  would  like  transportation  and  a 
guide,  and  he  remarked  that  he  would  consult  General  Fre 
mont  on  the  subject.  He  soon  returned  with  the  informa 
tion  that  Fremont  did  not  know  where  General  Hunter  was 
and  refused  to  give  me  any  transportation,  saying  that  he  had 
been  relieved  and  had  no  authority  to  do  so.  I  then  went  to 
a  self-styled  "  Colonel  "  Richardson,  who  had  a  kind  of  ma 
rauding  company,  having  been  mustered  into  neither  the 
United  States  service  nor  the  State  service.  I  gave  him  to 
understand  that  I  would  use  my  influence  to  have  him  regu 
larly  mustered  into  the  service,  whereupon  he  furnished  me 
with  a  good  horse  and  a  pretended  guide.  I  could  get  no 
information  in  regard  to  Hunter,  but  there  was  a  rumor  that 
he  was  making  towards  Springfield  and  was  in  the  region 
of  a  place  called  Buffalo.  I  therefore  started  out  about  eleven 
o'clock  at  night  on  the  Buffalo  road,  and,  after  great  diffi 
culty,  reached  the  town  about  daylight,  but  I  could  hear 
nothing  of  General  Hunter.  I  left  my  guide,  and  started  out 
on  the  road  to  Bolivar.  I  had  not  proceeded  more  than 
twelve  or  fifteen  miles  before  I  heard  the  rattling  of  horses' 
hoofs  in  my  rear.  I  stopped  to  await  their  arrival,  and  found 
that  they  were  a  small  detachment  of  Hunter's  troops  to  in- 


THE  FAILURE  OF  FREMONT  69 

form  me  that  the  General  had  just  arrived  in  Buffalo,  where 
upon  I  retraced  my  steps  and  delivered  my  message.  General 
Hunter  immediately  started  for  Springfield  in  a  four-mule 
ambulance.  Arriving,  he  issued  a  short  proclamation  as 
suming  command.  It  was  thought  by  some  that  this  would 
produce  a  mutiny  among  the  foreign  element.  It  did  not. 

It  was  not  in  the  West  alone  that  the  President  was  suffer 
ing  disappointment.  At  the  time  when  Fremont  received  the 
order  retiring  him,  McClellan  had  been  in  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  for  over  three  months.  His  force  had 
been  increased  until  it  numbered  over  168,000  men.  He  had 
given  night  and  day  to  organizing  and  drilling  this  army, 
and  it  seemed  to  those  who  watched  him  that  he  now  had  a 
force  as  near  ready  for  battle  as  an  army  could  be  made 
ready  by  anything  save  actual  fighting.  Mr.  Lincoln  had 
fully  sympathized  with  his  young  general's  desire  to  pre 
pare  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  for  the  field,  and  he  had  given 
him  repeated  proofs  of  his  support.  McClellan,  however, 
seems  to  have  felt  from  the  first  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  kindness 
was  merely  a  personal  recognition  of  his  own  military  ge 
nius.  He  had  conceived  the  idea  that  it  was  he  alone  who 
was  to  save  the  country.  "  The  people  call  upon  me  to  save 
the  country,"  he  wrote  to  his  wife.  "  I  must  save  it,  and 
cannot  respect  anything  that  is  in  the  way."  The  President's 
suggestions,  when  they  did  not  agree  with  his  own  ideas,  he 
regarded  as  an  interference.  Thus  he  imagined  that  the 
enemy  had  three  or  four  times  his  force,  and  when  the  Presi 
dent  doubted  this  he  complained,  "  The  President  cannot  or 
will  not  see  the  true  state  of  affairs."  Lincoln,  in  his  anxiety 
to  know  the  details  of  the  work  in  the  army,  went  frequently 
to  McClellan's  headquarters.  That  the  President  had  a 
serious  purpose  in  these  visits  McClellan  did  not  see.  "  I 
enclose  a  card  just  received  from  '  A.  Lincoln,'  "  he  wrote  to 
his  wife  one  day ;  "  it  shows  too  much  deference  to  be  seen 


70  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

outside/'  In  another  letter  to  Mrs.  McClellan  he  spoke  of 
being  "interrupted"  by  the  President  and  Secretary  Seward, 
"  who  had  nothing  in  particular  to  say,"  and  again  of  con 
cealing  himself  "  to  dodge  all  enemies  in  shape  of  '  brows 
ing  '  Presidents,  etc."  His  plans  he  kept  to  himself,  and 
when  at  the  Cabinet  meetings,  to  which  he  was  constantly 
summoned,  military  matters  were  discussed,  he  seemed  to 
feel  that  it  was  an  encroachment  on  his  special  business.  "  I 
am  becoming  daily  more  disgusted  with  this  Administration 
— perfectly  sick  of  it,"  he  wrote  early  in  October;  and  a 
few  days  later,  "  I  was  obliged  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the 
Cabinet  at  8  P.  M.  and  was  bored  and  annoyed.  There  are 
some  of  the  greatest  geese  in  the  Cabinet  I  have  ever  seen — 
enough  to  tax  the  patience  of  Job." 

As  time  went  on,  he  began  to  show  plainly  his  contempt 
of  the  President,  frequently  allowing  him  to  wait  in  the  ante 
room  of  his  house  while  he  transacted  business  with  others. 
This  discourtesy  was  so  open  that  McClellan' s  staff  noticed 
it,  and  newspaper  correspondents  commented  on  it.  The 
President  was  too  keen  not  to  see  the  situation,  but  he  was 
strong  enough  to  ignore  it.  It  was  a  battle  he  wanted  from 
McClellan,  not  deference.  "  I  will  hold  McClellan's  horse, 
if  he  will  only  bring  us  success,"  he  said  one  day. 

While  there  was  a  pretty  general  disposition  at  first  to  give 
McClellan  time  to  organize,  before  the  first  three  months 
were  up  Lincoln  was  receiving  impatient  comments  on  the 
inactivity  of  the  army.  This  impatience  became  anger  and 
dismay  when,  on 'October  21,  the  battle  of  Ball's  Bluff 
ended  in  defeat.  To  Mr.  Lincoln,  Ball's  Bluff  w^s  more 
than  a  military  reverse.  By  it  he  suffered  a  terrible  personal 
loss,  in  the  death  of  one  of  his  oldest  and  dearest  friends, 
Colonel  E.  D.  Baker.  Mr.  C.  C.  Coffin,  who  was  at  McClel 
lan's  headquarters  when  Lincoln  received  the  news  of  his 
friend's  death,  tells  of  the  scene : 


THE  FAILURE  OF  FREMONT  Jl 

The  afternoon  was  lovely,  a  rare  October  day.  I  learned 
early  in  the  day  that  something  was  going  on  up  the  Poto 
mac,  near  Ed  wards' s  Ferry,  by  the  troops  under  General 
Banks.  What  was  going  on  no  one  knew,  even  at  McClel 
lan' s  headquarters.  It  was  near  sunset  when,  accompanied 
by  a  fellow  correspondent,  I  went  to  ascertain  what  was 
taking  place.  We  entered  the  ante-room,  and  sent  our  cards 
to  General  McClellan.  While  we  waited,  President  Lincoln 
came  in ;  he  recognized  us,  reached  out  his  hand,  spoke  of  the 
beauty  of  the  afternoon,while  waiting  for  the  return  of  the 
young  lieutenant  who  had  gone  to  announce  his  arrival.  The 
lines  were  deeper  in  the  President's  face  than  when  I  saw  him 
in  his  own  home,  the  cheeks  more  sunken.  They  had  lines  of 
care  and  anxiety.  For  eighteen  months  he  had  borne  a  bur 
den  such  as  has  fallen  upon  few  men,  a  burden  as  weighty 
as  that  which  rested  upon  the  great  law-giver  of  Israel. 

"  Please  to  walk  this  way,"  said  the  lieutenant.  We  could 
hear  the  click  of  the  telegraph  in  the  adjoining  room  and  low 
conversation  between  the  President  and  General  McClellan, 
succeeded  by  silence,  excepting  the  click,  click  of  the  instru 
ment,  which  went  on  with  its  tale  of  disaster.  Five  minutes 
passed,  and  then  Mr.  Lincoln,  unattended,  with  bowed  head 
and  tears  rolling  down  his  furrowed  cheeks,  his  face  pale 
and  wan,  his  breast  heaving  with  emotion,  passed  through 
the  room.  He  almost  fell  as  he  stepped  into  the  street.  We 
sprang  involuntarily  from  our  seats  to  render  assistance,  but 
he  did  not  fall.  With  both  hands  pressed  upon  his  heart,  he 
walked  down  the  street,  not  returning  the  salute  of  the  senti 
nel  pacing  his  beat  before  the  door. 

General  McClellan  came  a  moment  later.  "  I  have  not 
much  news  to  tell  you/'  he  said.  "  There  has  been  a  move 
ment  of  troops  across  the  Potomac  at  Edwards's  Ferry, 
under  General  Stone,  and  Colonel  Baker  is  reported  killed. 
That  is  about  all  I  can  give  you." 

After  Ball's  Bluff,  the  grumbling  against  inaction  in  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  increased  until  public  attention  was 
suddenly  distracted  by  an  incident  of  an  entirely  new  char 
acter,  and  one_which  changed  the  discouragement  of  the 


72  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

North  over  the  repeated  military  failures  and  the  inactivity 
of  the  army  into  exultation.  This  incident  was  the  capture, 
on  November  8,  by  Captain  Wilkes,  of  the  warship  San 
Jacinto,  of  two  Confederate  commissioners  to  Europe, 
Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell.  Captain  Wilkes  had  stopped 
the  British  royal  mail  packet  Trent,  one  day  out  from 
Havana,  and  taken  the  envoys  with  their  secretaries  from 
her.  It  was  not  until  November  15  that  Captain  Wilkes  put 
into  Hampton  Roads  and  sent  the  Navy  Department  word  of 
his  performance. 

Of  course  the  message  was  immediately  carried  to  Mr. 
Lincoln  at  the  White  House.  A  few  hours  later  Benson  J. 
Lossing  called  on  the  President,  and  the  conversation  turned 
on  the  news.  Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  hesitate  to  express  him 
self. 

"  I  fear  the  traitors  will  prove  to  be  white  elephants,"  he 
said.  "  We  must  stick  to  American  principles  concerning 
the  rights  of  neutrals.  We  fought  Great  Britain  for  insist 
ing  by  theory  and  practice  on  the  right  to  do  exactly  what 
Captain  Wilkes  has  done.  If  Great  Britain  shall  now  pro 
test  against  the  act  and  demand  their  release,  we  must  give 
them  up,  apologize  for  the  act  as  a  violation  of  our  doc 
trines,  and  thus  forever  bind  her  over  to  keep  the  peace  in 
relation  to  neutrals,  and  so  acknowledge  that  she  has  been 
wrong  for  sixty  years." 

As  time  went  on,  Lincoln  had  every  reason  to  suppose  that 
there  was  an  overwhelming  sentiment  in  the  country  in  fa 
vor  of  keeping  the  commissioners  and  braving  the  wrath  of 
England.  Banquets  and  presentations,  votes  of  thanks  by 
the  cabinet  and  by  Congress,  all  kinds  of  ovation,  were  ac 
corded  Captain  Wilkes.  During  this  excitement  the  Presi 
dent  held  his  peace,  not  even  referring  to  the  affair  in  themes- 
sage  he  sent  to  Congress  on  December  3.  He  was  studying 
the  situation.  Before  his  inauguration  he  had  said  one  day  to 


THE  FAILURE  OF  FREMONT  73 

Seward :  "  One  part  of  the  business,  Governor  Seward,  I 
think  I  shall  leave  almost  entirely  in  your  hands ;  that  is,  the 
dealing  with  those  foreign  nations  and  their  governments." 
Now,  however,  he  saw  that  he  must  exercise  a  controlling 
influence.  The  person  with  whom  he  seems  to  have  dis 
cussed  the  case  most  seriously  was  Charles  Sumner,  the 
chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations. 

Sumner  was  one  of  the  few  men  who  had  from  the  first 
believed  in  Lincoln.  Although  himself  most  radical,  he  had 
been  appreciative  of  the  President-elect's  point  of  view,  and 
had  seen  in  the  interval  between  the  election  and  the  inau 
guration  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Lincoln  was,  on  the  es 
sential  question  at  issue,  "  firm  as  a  chain  of  steel."  Thus, 
on  January  26,  he  wrote,  "  Mr.  Lincoln  is  perfectly  firm. 
He  says  that  the  Republican  party  shall  not,  with  his  assent, 
become  a  mere  sucked  egg,  all  shell  and  no  meat,  the  princi 
ple  all  sucked  out."  Although  himself  a  most  polished,  even 
a  fastidious  gentleman,  Sumner  never  allowed  Lincoln's 
homely  ways  to  hide  his  great  qualities.  He  gave  him  a  re 
spect  and  esteem  at  the  start  which  others  accorded  only 
after  experience.  The  Senator  was  most  tactful,  too,  in  his 
dealings  with  Mrs.  Lincoln,  and  soon  had  a  firm  footing  in 
the  household.  That  he  was  proud  of  this,  perhaps  a  little 
boastful,  there  is  no  doubt.  Lincoln  himself  appreciated  this. 
"  Sumner  thinks  he  runs  me,"  he  said,  with  an  amused  twin 
kle,  one  day.  After  tire  seizure  of  Mason  and  Slidell,  the 
President  talked  over  the  question  frequently  with  Sumner, 
who  had,  from  the  receipt  of  the  news,  declared,  "  We  shall 
have  to  give  them  up." 

Early  in  December,  word  reached  America  that  England 
was  getting  ready  to  go  to  war  in  case  we  did  not  give  up  the 
commissioners.  The  news  aroused  the  deepest  indignation, 
and  the  determination  to  keep  Mason  and  Slidell  was  for  a 
brief  time  stronger  than  ever.  Common  sense  was  doing  its 


74  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

work,  however.  Gradually  the  people  began  to  feel  that, 
after  all,  the  commissioners  were  "  white  elephants."  On 
December  19,  the  Administration  received  a  notice  that  the 
only  redress  which  would  satisfy  the  British  government 
would  be  "  the  liberation  of  the  four  gentlemen,"  and  their 
delivery  to  the  British  minister  at  Washington  and  a  "  suit 
able  apology  for  the  aggression  which  had  been  committed/* 
In  the  days  which  followed,  while  the  Secretary  of  State  was 
preparing  the  reply  to  be  submitted,  Sumner  was  much  with 
the  President.  We  have  the  Senator's  assurance  that  the 
President  was  applying  his  mind  carefully  to  the  answer,  so 
that  it  would  be  essentially  his.  It  is  evident  from  Sumner's 
letter,  that  Lincoln  was  resolved  that  there  should  be  no  war 
with  England.  Thus,  on  December  23,  Sumner  wrote  to 
John  Bright,  with  whom  he  maintained  a  regular  corre 
spondence  :  "  Your  letter  and  also  Cobclen's  I  showed  at  once 
to  the  President,  who  is  much  moved  and  astonished  by  the 
English  intelligence.  He  is  essentially  honest  and  pacific  in 
disposition,  with  a  natural  slowness.  Yesterday  he  said  to 
me,  *  There  will  be  no  war  unless  England  is  bent  upon  hav 
ing  one/ ' 

It  was  on  Christmas  day  that  beward  finally  had  his  an 
swer  ready.  It  granted  the  British  demand  as  to  the  sur^ 
render  of  the  prisoners,  though  it  refused  an  apology — on 
the  ground  that  Captain  Wilkes  had  acted  without  orders. 
After  the  paper  had  been  discussed  by  the  Cabinet,  but  no  de 
cision  reached,  and  all  of  the  members  but  Seward  had  de 
parted,  Lincoln  said,  according  to  Mr.  Frederick  Seward: 
"  Governor  Seward,  you  will  go  on,  of  course,  preparing 
your  answer,  which,  as  I  understand  it,  will  state  the  rea 
sons  why  they  ought  to  be  given  up.  Now,  I  have  a  mind 
to  try  my  hand  at  stating  the  reasons  why  they  ought  not 
to  be  given  up.  We  will  compare  the  points  on  each  side." 

But  the  next  day,  after  a  Cabinet  meeting  at  which  it  was 


THE  FAILURE  OF  FREMONT  75 

decided  finally  to  return  the  prisoners,  when  Secretary  Sew- 
ard  said  to  the  President :  "  You  thought  you  might  frame 
an  argument  for  the  other  side?  "  Mr.  Lincoln  smiled,  and 
shook  his  head.  "  I  found  I  could  not  make  an  argument 
that  would  satisfy  my  own  mind,"  he  said ;  "  and  that  proved 
to  me  your  ground  was  the  right  one." 

Lincoln's  first  conclusion  was  the  real  ground  on  which 
the  Administration  submitted :  "  We  must  stick  to  American 
principles  concerning  the  rights  of  neutrals."  The  country 
grimaced  at  the  conclusion.  It  was  to  many,  as  Chase  de 
clared  it  was  to  him,  "  gall  and  wormwood."  Lowell's  clever 
verse  expressed  best  the  popular  feeling : 

We  give  the  critters  back,  John, 
Cos  Abram  thought  ft  was  right; 

It  warn't  your  bullyin*  clack,  John, 
Provokin'  us  to  fight. 

The  decision  raised  Mr.  Lincoln  immeasurably  in  the  view 
of  thoughtful  men,  especially  in  England. 

"  If  reparation  were  made  at  all,  of  which  few  of  us  felt 
more  than  a  hope,"  wrote  John  Stuart  Mill,  "  we  thought 
that  it  would  be  made  obviously  as  a  concession  to  prudence, 
not  to  principle.  We  thought  that  there  would  have  been 
truckling  to  the  newspaper  editors  and  supposed  fire-eaters 
who  were  crying  out  for  retaining  the  prisoners  at  all  haz 
ards.  .  .  .  We  expected  everything,  in  short,  which 
would  have  been  weak,  and  timid,  and  paltry.  The  only 
thing  which  no  one  seemed  to  expect  is  what  has  actually 
happened.  Mr.  Lincoln's  government  have  done  none  of 
these  things.  Like  honest  men  they  have  said  in  direct  terms 
that  our  demand  was  right;  that  they  yielded  to  it  because 
it  was  just;  that  if  they  themselves  had  received  the  same 
treatment,  they  would  have  demanded  the  same  reparation ; 
and  if  what  seemed  to  be  the  American  side  of  the  question 
was  not  the  just  side,  they  would  be  on  the  side  of  justice, 
happy  as  they  were  to  find  after  their  resolution  had  been 
taken,  that  it  was  also  the  side  which  America  had  formerly 


78  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

to  Russia.  It  is  plain  from  Lincoln's  letters  to  Cameron  at 
this  time  and  his  subsequent  treatment  of  him  that,  with 
characteristic  fair-dealing,  he  took  into  consideration  all  the 
enormous  difficulties  which  beset  the  Secretary  of  War.  He 
saw  what  the  public  refused  to  see,  that  "  to  bring  the  War 
Department  up  to  the  standard  of  the  times,  and  work  an 
army  of  500,000  with  machinery  adapted  to  a  peace  estab 
lishment  of  12,000,  is  no  easy  task."  He  had  all  this  in  mind 
evidently  when  he  relieved  Cameron,  for  he  assured  him  of 
his  personal  regard  and  of  his  confidence  in  his  "  ability,  pa 
triotism,  and  fidelity  to  public  trust."  A  few  months  later 
he  did  still  more  for  Cameron.  In  April,  1862,  Congress 
passed  a  bill  censuring  the  Secretary  for  certain  of  his  trans 
actions.  The  President  soon  after  sent  the  body  a  message 
in  which  he  claimed  that  he  himself  was  equally  responsible 
in  the  transaction  for  which  Cameron  was  being  censured : 

I  should  be  wanting  equally  in  candor  and  in  justice  if  I 
should  leave  the  censure  expressed  in  this  resolution  to  rest 
exclusively  or  chiefly  upon  Mr.  Cameron.  The  same  senti 
ment  is  unanimously  entertained  by  the  heads  of  departments 
who  participated  in  the  proceedings  which  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  has  censured.  It  is  due  to  Mr.  Cameron  to  say 
that,  although  he  fully  approved  the  proceedings,  they  were 
not  moved  nor  suggested  by  himself,  and  that  not  only  the 
President  but  all  the  other  heads  of  departments,  were  at  least 
equally  responsible  with  him  for  whatever  error,  wrong,  or 
fault  was  committed  in  the  premises. 

In  deciding  on  a  successor  to  Mr.  Cameron,  the  President 
showed  more  clearly,  perhaps,  than  in  any  other  appointment 
of  his  whole  presidential  career  how  far  above  personal  re 
sentments  he  was  in  his  public  dealings.  He  chose  a  man 
who  six  years  before,  at  a  time  when  consideration  from  a 
superior  meant  a  great  deal  to  him,  had  subjected  him  to  a 
slight,  and  this  for  no  other  apparent  reason  than  that  he  was 
rude  in  dress  and  unpolished  in  manner ;  a  man  who,  besides, 


THE  FAILURE  OF  FREMONT  79 

had  been  his  most  scornful,  even  vituperative,  critic  since  his 
election.  This  man  was  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  a  lawyer  of  abil 
ity,  integrity,  and  loyalty,  who  had  won  the  confidence  of  the 
North  by  his  patriotic  services  in  Buchanan's  Cabinet  from 
December,  1860,  to  the  close  of  his  administration,  March  4-, 
1 86 1.  Lincoln's  first  encounter  with  Stanton  had  been  in 
1855,  in  his  first  case  of  importance  outside  of  Illinois.  H3 
was  a  counsel  in  the  case  with  Stanton,  but  the  latter  ignored 
him  so  openly  that  all  those  associated  with  them  observed  it. 

Lincoln  next  knew  of  Stanton  when,  as  President-elect, 
he  watched  from  Springfield  the  deplorable  dissolution  of 
the  federal  authority  which  Buchanan  allowed,  and  he  must 
have  felt  profoundly  grateful  for  the  new  vigor  and  determi 
nation  which  were  infused  into  the  Administration  when,  in 
December,  1860,  Stanton  and  Holt  entered  Buchanan's  Cabi 
net.  After  Lincoln  was  inaugurated  he  had  nothing  to  do 
with  Stanton.  In  fact  he  did  not  see  him  from  the  4th  of 
March,  1861,  to  the  day  he  handed  him  his  commission  as 
Secretary  of  War,  in  January,  1862.  Stanton,  however,  was 
watching  Lincoln's  administration  closely,  even  disdainfully. 
After  Bull  Run  he  wrote  to  ex-President  Buchanan :  "  The 
imbecility  of  this  Administration  culminated  in  that  catas 
trophe;  an  irretrievable  misfortune  and  national  disgrace, 
never  to  be  forgotten,  are  to  be  added  to  the  ruin  of  all  peace 
ful  pursuits  and  national  bankrputcy,  as  the  result  of  Lin 
coln's  '  running  the  machine  '  for  five  months." 

McClellan,  who  saw  much  of  Stanton  in  the  fall  of  1861, 
says: 

The  most  disagreeable  thing  about  him  was  the  extreme 
virulence  with  which  he  abused  the  President,  the  Adminis 
tration,  and  the  Republican  party.  He  carried  this  to  such 
an  extent  that  I  was  often  shocked  by  it.  He  never  spoke  of 
the  President  in  any  other  way  than  as  the  "  original  go 
rilla,"  and  often  said  that  Du  Chaillu  was  a  fool  to  wander 


78  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

to  Russia.  It  is  plain  from  Lincoln's  letters  to  Cameron  at 
this  time  and  his  subsequent  treatment  of  him  that,  with 
characteristic  fair-dealing,  he  took  into  consideration  all  the 
enormous  difficulties  which  beset  the  Secretary  of  War.  He 
saw  what  the  public  refused  to  see,  that  "  to  bring  the  War 
Department  up  to  the  standard  of  the  times,  and  work  an 
army  of  500,000  with  machinery  adapted  to  a  peace  estab 
lishment  of  12,000,  is  no  easy  task."  He  had  all  this  in  mind 
evidently  when  he  relieved  Cameron,  for  he  assured  him  of 
his  personal  regard  and  of  his  confidence  in  his  "  ability,  pa 
triotism,  and  fidelity  to  public  trust."  A  few  months  later 
he  did  still  more  for  Cameron.  In  April,  1862,  Congress 
passed  a  bill  censuring  the  Secretary  for  certain  of  his  trans 
actions.  The  President  soon  after  sent  the  body  a  message 
in  which  he  claimed  that  he  himself  was  equally  responsible 
in  the  transaction  for  which  Cameron  was  being  censured : 

I  should  be  wanting  equally  in  candor  and  in  justice  if  I 
should  leave  the  censure  expressed  in  this  resolution  to  rest 
exclusively  or  chiefly  upon  Mr.  Cameron.  The  same  senti 
ment  is  unanimously  entertained  by  the  heads  of  departments 
who  participated  in  the  proceedings  which  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  has  censured.  It  is  due  to  Mr.  Cameron  to  say 
that,  although  he  fully  approved  the  proceedings,  they  were 
not  moved  nor  suggested  by  himself,  and  that  not  only  the 
President  but  all  the  other  heads  of  departments,  were  at  least 
equally  responsible  with  him  for  whatever  error,  wrong,  or 
fault  was  committed  in  the  premises. 

In  deciding  on  a  successor  to  Mr.  Cameron,  the  President 
showed  more  clearly,  perhaps,  than  in  any  other  appointment 
of  his  whole  presidential  career  how  far  above  personal  re 
sentments  he  was  in  his  public  dealings.  He  chose  a  man 
who  six  years  before,  at  a  time  when  consideration  from  a 
superior  meant  a  great  deal  to  him,  had  subjected  him  to  a 
slight,  and  this  for  no  other  apparent  reason  than  that  he  was 
rude  in  dress  and  unpolished  in  manner ;  a  man  who,  besides, 


THE  FAILURE  OF  FREMONT  79 

had  been  his  most  scornful,  even  vituperative,  critic  since  his 
election.  This  man  was  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  a  lawyer  of  abil 
ity,  integrity,  and  loyalty,  who  had  won  the  confidence  of  the 
North  by  his  patriotic  services  in  Buchanan's  Cabinet  from 
December,  1860,  to  the  close  of  his  administration,  March  4^ 
1 86 1.  Lincoln's  first  encounter  with  Stanton  had  been  in 
1855,  in  his  first  case  of  importance  outside  of  Illinois.  H$ 
was  a  counsel  in  the  case  with  Stanton,  but  the  latter  ignored 
him  so  openly  that  all  those  associated  with  them  observed  it. 

Lincoln  next  knew  of  Stanton  when,  as  President-elect, 
he  watched  from  Springfield  the  deplorable  dissolution  of 
the  federal  authority  which  Buchanan  allowed,  and  he  must 
have  felt  profoundly  grateful  for  the  new  vigor  and  determi 
nation  which  were  infused  into  the  Administration  when,  in 
December,  1860,  Stanton  and  Holt  entered  Buchanan's  Cabi 
net.  After  Lincoln  was  inaugurated  he  had  nothing  to  do 
with  Stanton.  In  fact  he  did  not  see  him  from  the  4th  of 
March,  1861,  to  the  day  he  handed  him  his  commission  as 
Secretary  of  War,  in  January,  1862.  Stanton,  however,  was 
watching  Lincoln's  administration  closely,  even  disdainfully. 
After  Bull  Run  he  wrote  to  ex-President  Buchanan :  "  The 
imbecility  of  this  Administration  culminated  in  that  catas 
trophe;  an  irretrievable  misfortune  and  national  disgrace, 
never  to  be  forgotten,  are  to  be  added  to  the  ruin  of  all  peace 
ful  pursuits  and  national  bankrputcy,  as  the  result  of  Lin 
coln's  '  running  the  machine  '  for  five  months." 

McClellan,  who  saw  much  of  Stanton  in  the  fall  of  1861, 
says: 

The  most  disagreeable  thing  about  him  was  the  extreme 
virulence  with  which  he  abused  the  President,  the  Adminis 
tration,  and  the  Republican  party.  He  carried  this  to  such 
an  extent  that  I  was  often  shocked  by  it.  He  never  spoke  of 
the  President  in  any  other  way  than  as  the  "  original  go 
rilla,"  and  often  said  that  Du  Chaillu  was  a  fool  to  wander 


So  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

all  the  way  to  Africa  in  search  of  what  he  could  so  easily 
have  found  at  Springfield,  Illinois.  Nothing  could  have  been 
more  bitter  than  his  words  and  manner  always  were  when 
speaking  of  the  Administration  and  the  Republican  party. 
He  never  gave  them  credit  for  honesty  or  patriotism,  and 
very  seldom  for  any  ability. 

Lincoln,  if  he  knew  of  this  abuse,  which  is  improbable,  re 
garded  it  no  more  seriously  than  he  did  McClellan's  slights. 
He  knew  Stanton  was  able  and  loyal;  that  the  country  be 
lieved  in  him ;  that  he  would  administer  the  department  with 
honesty  and  energy.  Furthermore,  he  knew  of  the  intimacy 
between  McClellan  and  Stanton,  and  as  he  saw  the  great 
necessity  of  harmonious  relations  between  the  head  of  the 
War  Department  and  the  commander  of  the  army,  he  was 
more  in  favor  of  Stanton.  The  appointment  was  generally 
regarded  as  a  wise  selection,  and  in  many  quarters  aroused 
enthusiasm. 

"  No  man  ever  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  the  most  mo 
mentous  public  duties  under  more  favorable  auspices,  so  far 
as  public  confidence  and  support  can  create  such  auspices," 
said  the  New  York  "  Tribune."  "  In  all  the  loyal  States 
there  has  not  been  one  dissent  from  the  general  acclamation 
which  hailed  Mr.  Stanton's  appointment  as  eminently  wise 
and  happy.  The  simple  truth  is  that  Mr.  Stanton  was  not 
appointed  to  and  does  not  accept  the  War  Department  in 
support  of  any  program  or  policy  whatever,  but  the  un 
qualified  and  uncompromising  vindication  of  the  authority 
and  integrity  of  the  Union.  Whatever  views  he  may  enter 
tain  respecting  slavery  will  not  be  allowed  to  swerve  him 
one  hair  from  the  line  of  paramount  and  single-hearted  de 
votion  to  the  National  cause.  If  slavery  or  anti-slavery  shall 
at  any  time  be  found  obstructing  or  impeding  the  nation  in 
its  efforts  to  crush  out  this  monstrous  rebellion,  he  will  walk 
straight  on  in  the  path  of  duty  though  that  path  should  lead 
him  over  or  through  the  impediment  and  insure  its  annihila 
tion." 


THE  FAILURE  OF  FREMONT  8 1 

Stanton  took  hold  of  his  task  with  the  aggressive  ear 
nestness  and  energy  of  his  nature.  He  made  open  war  on 
contractors.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  let  McClellan  know 
that  he  expected  an  advance.  As  he  wrote  Charles  A.  Dana 
on  January  22 : 

"  This  army  has  got  to  fight  or  run  away;  and  while  men 
are  striving  nobly  in  the  West,  the  champagne  and  oysters 
on  the  Potomac  must  be  stopped." 

It  is  evident  from  this  same  letter  to  Mr.  Dana  that  he  had 
undertaken  to  discipline  even  the  President  for  his  habit  of 
joking : 

"  I  feel  a  deep,  earnest  feeling  growing  up  around  me.  We 
have  no  jokes  or  trivialities,  but  all  with  whom  I  act  show 
that  they  are  in  dead  earnest." 

The  excitement  over  the  Trent  affair,  the  investigation 
of  the  War  Department,  the  dismissal  of  Cameron,  and 
the  appointment  of  Stanton,  diverted  public  criticism  from 
McClellan ;  but  never  for  long  at  a  time.  The  inactivity  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  become  the  subject  of  gibes 
and  sneers.  Lincoln  stood  by  the  General.  He  had  promised 
him  all  the  "  sense  and  information  "  he  had,  and  he  gave  it. 
When  Congress  opened  on  December  3,  he  took  the  oppor 
tunity  to  remind  the  country  that  the  General  was  its  own 
choice,  as  well  as  his,  and  that  support  was  due  him : 

Since  your  last  adjournment  Lieutenant-General  Scott 
has  retired  from  the  head  of  the  army.  .  .  .  With  the 
retirement  of  General  Scott  came  the  executive  duty  of  ap 
pointing  in  his  stead  a  general-in-chief  of  the  army.  It  is  a 
fortunate  circumstance  that  neither  in  council  nor  country 
was  there,  so  far  as  I  know,  any  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
the  proper  person  to  be  selected.  The  retiring  chief  repeat 
edly  expressed  his  judgment  in  favor  of  General  McClellan 
for  the  position,  and  in  this  the  nation  seemed  to  give  a 
unanimous  concurrence.  The  designation  of  General  Me- 


82  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

Clellan  is,  therefore,  in  considerable  degree  the  selection  of 
the  country  as  well  as  of  the  executive,  and  hence  there  is 
better  reason  to  hope  there  will  be  given  him  the  confidence 
and  cordial  support  thus  by  fair  implication  promised,  and 
without  which  he  cannot  with  so  full  efficiency  serve  the 
country. 

At  this  time  Lincoln  had  every  reason  to  believe  that  Me- 
Clellan  would  soon  move.  The  General  certainly  was  assur 
ing  the  few  persons  whom  he  condescended  to  take  into  his 
confidence  to  that  effect.  The  Hon.  Galusha  A.  Grow,  of 
Pennsylvania,  Speaker  of  the  House,  says  that  very  soon 
after  Congress  came  together,  the  members  began  to  com 
ment  on  the  number  of  board  barracks  that  were  going  up 
around  Washington. 

"  It  seemed  to  them,"  says  Mr.  Grow,  "  that  there  were  a 
great  many  more  than  were  necessary  for  hospital  and  re 
serve  purposes.  The  roads  at  that  time  in  Virginia  were  ex 
cellent;  everybody  was  eager  for  an  advance.  Congressmen 
observed  the  barracks  with  dismay ;  it  looked  as  if  McClellan 
was  going  into  winter  quarters.  Finally  several  of  them 
came  to  me  and  stated  their  anxiety,  asking  what  it  meant. 
'  Well,  gentlemen/  I  said,  '  I  don't  know  what  it  means,  but 
I  will  ask  the  General/  so  I  went  to  McClellan,  who  received 
me  kindly,  and  told  him  how  all  the  members  were  feeling, 
and  asked  him  if  the  army  was  really  going  into  winter  quar 
ters.  '  No,  no/  McClellan  said,  '  I  have  no  intention  of  put 
ting  the  army  into  winter  quarters;  I  mean  the  campaign 
shall  be  short,  sharp,  and  decisive/  He  began  explaining  his 
plan  to  me,  but  I  interrupted  him,  saying  I  did  not  desire  to 
know  his  plan ;  I  preferred  not  to  know  it,  in  fact.  If  I  could 
assure  members  of  Congress  that  the  army  was  going  to 
move,  it  was  all  that  was  necessary.  I  returned  with  his  as 
surance  that  there  would  soon  be  an  advance.  Weeks  went 
on,  however,  without  the  promised  advance;  nor  did  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  leave  the  vicinity  of  Washington  until 
Mr.  Lincoln  issued  the  special  orders  compelling  McClellan 
to  move/' 


THE  FAILURE  OF  FREMONT  83 

Lincoln  continued  to  defend  McClellan.    "  We've  got  to 

stand  by  the  General,"  he  told  his  visitors.  "  I  suppose,"  he 
added  dubiously,  "  he  knows  his  business."  But  loyal  as  he 
was  he  too  was  losing  patience.  His  friend,  Mr.  Arnold,  tells 
how  the  President  said  one  day  to  a  friend  of  General  Mc 
Clellan,  doubtless  with  the  expectation  that  it  would  be  re 
peated  :  "  McClellan's  tardiness  reminds  me  of  a  man  in 
Illinois,  whose  attorney  was  not  sufficiently  aggressive.  The 
client  knew  a  few  law  phrases,  and  finally,  after  waiting  un 
til  his  patience  was  exhausted  by  the  non-action  of  his  coun 
sel,  he  sprang  to  his  feet  and  exclaimed :  "  Why  don't  you  go 
at  him  with  a  Fi  fa  demurrer,  a  capias,  a  surrebutter,  or  a  ne 
exeat,  or  something,  and  not  stand  there  like  a  nudum  pac- 
tum,  or  a  non  estf  " 

Later  he  made  a  remark  which  was  repeated  up  and  down 
the  country :  "If  General  McClellan  does  not  want  to  use 
the  army  for  some  days,  I  should  like  to  borrow  it  and  see  if 
it  cannot  be  made  to  do  something." 

Towards  the  end  of  December  McClellan  fell  ill.  The 
long-expected  advance  was  out  of  the  question  until  he  re 
covered.  Distracted  at  this  idea,  the  President  for  the  first 
time  asserted  himself  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  forces  of 
the  United  States.  Heretofore  he  had  used  his  military  au 
thority  principally  in  raising  men  and  commissioning  offi 
cers  ;  campaigns  he  had  left  to  the  generals.  It  had  been  to 
be  sure  largely  because  of  his  urgency  that  the  Battle  of  Bull 
Run  had  been  fought.  After  Bull  Run  he  had  prepared  a 
"  Memorandum  of  Military  Policy  Suggested  by  the  Bull 
Run  Defeat,"  and  may  have  thought  the  War  Department 
was  working  according  to  this.  When  he  relieved  Fremont 
he  had  offered  his  successor  a  few  suggestions  but  he  had 
been  careful  to  add : 

"  Knowing  how  hazardous  it  is  to  bind  down  a  distant 
commander  in  the  field  to  specific  lines  and  operations,  as  so 


84  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

much  always  depends  on  a  knowledge  of  localities  and  pass 
ing  events,  it  is  intended  therefore,  to  leave  a  considerable 
margin  for  the  exercise  of  your  judgment  and  discretion." 

Early  in  December,  weary  with  waiting  for  McClellan,  he 
had  sent  him  a  list  of  questions  concerning  the  Potomac 
campaign.  They  were  broad  hints,  but  in  no  sense  orders 
and  McClellan  hardly  gave  them  a  second  thought.  Nicolay 
and  Hay  say  that  after  keeping  them  ten  days,  the  General 
returned  them  with  hurried  answers  in  pencil.  Certainly  he 
was  in  no  degree  influenced  by  them.  And  this  was  about 
all  the  military  authority — "  interference "  some  critics 
called  it, — that  the  President  had  exercised  up  to  the  time 
McClellan  was  shut  up  by  fever. 

Now,  however,  he  undertook  to  learn  direct  from  the  offi 
cers  the  condition  things  were  in,  and  if  it  was  not  possible 
to  get  some  work  out  of  the  army  somewhere  along  the  line. 
Particularly  was  he  anxious  that  East  Tennessee  be  relieved. 
The  Unionists  there  were  "  being  hanged  and  driven  to  de 
spair/'  there  was  danger  of  them  going  over  to  the  South. 
All  this  the  generals  knew.  Lincoln  telegraphed  Halleck, 
then  in  command  of  the  Western  Department,  and  Buell,  in 
charge  of  the  forces  in  Kentucky,  asking  if  they  were  "  in 
concert  "  and  urging  a  movement  which  he  supposed  to  have 
been  decided  upon  some  time  before.  The  replies  he  received 
disappointed  and  distressed  him.  There  seemed  to  be  no 
more  idea  of  advancing  in  the  West  than  in  the  East.  The 
plans  he  supposed  settled  his  generals  now  controverted.  He 
could  get  no  promise  of  action,  no  precise  information.  "  De 
lay  is  ruining  us,"  he  wrote  to  Buell  on  January  7,  "  and 
it  is  indispensable  for  me  to  have  something  definite."  And 
yet,  convinced  though  he  was  that  his  plans  were  practica 
ble,  he  would  not  make  them  into  orders. 

"  For  my  own  views,"  he  wrote  Buell  on  January  13,  "I 
have  not  offered  and  do  not  offer  them  as  orders;  and  while 


THE  FAILURE  OF  FREMONT  85 

I  am  glad  to  have  them  respectfully  considered,  I  would 
blame  you  to  follow  them  contrary  to  your  own  clear  judg 
ment,  unless  I  should  put  them  in  the  form  of  orders.  As  to 
General  McClellan's  views,  you  understand  your  duty  in  re 
gard  to  them  better  than  I  do.  With  this  preliminary,  I  state 
my  general  idea  of  this  war  to  be  that  we  have  the  greater 
numbers,  and  the  enemy  has  greater  facility  of  concentrat 
ing  forces  upon  points  of  collision ;  that  we  must  fail  unless 
we  can  find  some  way  of  making  our  advantage  an  over 
match  for  his;  and  that  this  can  only  be  done  by  menacing 
him  with  superior  forces  at  different  points  at  the  same  time, 
so  that  we  can  safely  attack  one  or  both  if  he  makes  no 
change ;  and  if  he  weakens  one  to  strengthen  the  other,  for 
bear  to  attack  the  strengthened  one,  but  seize  and  hold  the 
weakened  one,  gaining  so  much." 

This  hesitancy  about  exercising  his  military  authority, 
came  from  Lincoln's  consciousness  that  he  knew  next  to 
nothing  of  the  business  of  fighting.  When  he  saw  that  those 
supposed  to  know  something  of  the  science  did  nothing,  he 
resolved  to  learn  the  subject  himself  as  thoroughly  as  he 
could.  "  He  gave  himself,  night  and  day,  to  the  study  of  the 
military  situation,"  say  Nicolay  and  Hay,  his  secretaries. 
"  He  read  a  large  number  of  strategical  works.  He  pored 
over  the  reports  from  the  various  departments  and  districts 
of  the  field  of  war.  He  held  long  conferences  with  eminent 
generals  and  admirals,  and  astonished  them  by  the  extent  of 
his  special  knowledge  and  the  keen  intelligence  of  his  ques 
tions." 

By  the  time  McClellan  was  about  again,  Lincoln  had 
learned  enough  of  the  situation  to  convince  him  that  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  could  and  must  advance,  and  on  Janu 
ary  27,  he,  for  the  first  time,  used  his  power  as  comman- 
der-in-chief  of  the  army,  and  issued  his  General  War  Order 
No.  i. 

Ordered,  That  the  22d  day  of  February,  1862,  be  the  day 
for  a  general  movement  of  all  the  land  and  naval  forces  of 


86  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

the  United  States  against  the  insurgent  forces.  That  es 
pecially  the  army  at  and  about  Fortress  Monroe ;  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac;  the  Army  of  Western  Virginia;  the  army 
near  Munfordville,  Kentucky ;  the  army  and  flotilla  at  Cairo, 
and  a  naval  force  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  be  ready  to  move 
on  that  day. 

That  all  other  forces,  both  land  and  naval,  with  their  re 
spective  commanders,  obey  existing  orders  for  the  time,  and 
be  ready  to  obey  additional  orders  when  duly  given. 

That  the  heads  of  departments,  and  especially  the  Secre 
taries  of  War  and  of  the  Navy,  with  all  their  subordinates, 
and  the  general-in-chief,  with  all  other  commanders  and  sub 
ordinates  of  land  and  naval  forces,  will  severally  be  held  to 
their  strict  and  full  responsibilities  for  prompt  execution  of 
this  order. 

Four  days  later  the  President  issued  his  first  Special  War 
Order,  applying  exclusively  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

Ordered,  That  all  the  disposable  force  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  after  providing  safely  for  the  defense  of  Washing 
ton,  be  formed  into  an  expedition  for  the  immediate  object 
of  seizing  and  occupying  a  point  upon  the  railroad  south- 
westward  of  what  is  known  as  Manassas  Junction,  all  de 
tails  to  be  in  the  discretion  of  the  commander-in-chief,  and 
the  expedition  to  move  before  or  on  the  22d  day  of  Febru 
ary  next. 

For  a  time  after  these  orders  were  issued  there  was  gen 
eral  hopefulness  in  the  country.  The  newspapers  that  had 
been  attacking  the  President  now  praised  him  for  taking 
hold  of  the  army.  "  It  has  infused  new  spirit  into  every  one 
since  the  President  appears  to  take  such  an  interest  in  our 
operations,"  wrote  an  officer  from  the  West,  to  the 
"  Tribune." 

The  hope  of  an  advance  in  the  East  was  short-lived.  Mc- 
Clellan  was  not  willing  to  carry  out  the  plan  for  the  cam 
paign  which  the  President  approved.  Mr.  Lincoln  believed 
that  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  should  move  directly  across 


THE  FAILURE  OF  FREMONT  87 

Virginia  against  Richmond,  while  McClellan  contended  that 
the  safe  and  brilliant  movement  was  down  the  Chesapeake, 
up  the  Rapahannock  to  Urbana  and  across  land  to  the  York 
river.  There  was  much  controversy  between  the  friends 
of  the  two  plans.  It  ended  in  the  President  giving  up  to  his 
general.  Of  one  thing  he  felt  certain,  McClellan  would 
not  work  as  well  on  a  plan  in  which  he  did  not  believe  as 
on  one  to  which  he  was  committed,  and  as  success  was  what 
Mr.  Lincoln  wanted  he  finally  consented  to  the  Chesapeake 
;  route.  It  brought  bitter  criticism  upon  him,  especially  from 
the  Congressional  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War. 
Common  sense  told  men  that  the  direct  overland  route  to 
Richmond  was  the  better.  The  President,  they  said,  was 
afraid  of  his  general-in-chief. 

While  harassed  by  this  inaction  and  obstinacy  of  McClel- 
lan's,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  plunged  into  a  bitter  private  sorrow. 
Early  in  February  his  two  younger  boys,  Willie  and  Tad, 
as  they  were  familiarly  known,  fell  sick.  In  the  tender 
ness  of  his  nature  Mr.  Lincoln  could  never  see  suffering 
of  any  kind  without  a  passionate  desire  to  relieve  it.  Es 
pecially  was  he  moved  by  the  distress  of  a  child.  Indeed  his 
love  for  children  had  already  become  familiar  to  the  whole 
public  by  the  touching  little  stories  which  visitors  had 
brought  away  from  the  White  House  and  which  crept  into 
the  newspapers : 

"  At  the  reception  Saturday  afternoon,  at  the  President's 
house,"  wrote  a  correspondent  of  the  "  Independent," 
"  many  persons  noticed  three  little  girls,  poorly  dressed,  the 
children  of  some  mechanic  or  laboring  man,  who  had  fol 
lowed  the  visitors  into  the  White  House  to  gratify  their  cu 
riosity.  They  passed  around  from  room  to  room,  and  were 
hastening  through  the  reception  room,  with  some  trepida 
tion,  when  the  President  called  to  them, '  Little  girls,  are  you 
going  to  pass  me  without  shaking  hands  ?  '  Then  he  bent  his 
tall,  awkward  form  down,  and  shook  each  little  girl  warmly 


88  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

by  the  hand.  Everybody  in  the  apartment  was  spellbound  by 
the  incident,  so  simple  in  itself." 

Many  men  and  women  now  living  who  were  children  in 
Washington  at  this  time  recall  the  President's  gentleness  to 
them.  Mr.  Frank  P.  Blair  of  Chicago,  says : 

During  the  war  my  grandfather,  Francis  P.  Blair,  Sr., 
lived  at  Silver  Springs,  north  of  Washington,  seven  miles 
from  the  White  House.  It  was  a  magnificent  place  of  four 
or  five  hundred  acres,  with  an  extensive  lawn  in  the  rear  of 
the  house.  The  grandchildren  gathered  there  frequently. 
There  were  eight  or  ten  of  us,  our  ages  ranging  from  eight 
to  twelve  years.  Although  I  was  but  seven  or  eight  years  of 
age,  Mr.  Lincoln's  visits  were  of  such  importance  to  us  boys 
as  to  leave  a  clear  impression  on  my  memory.  He  drove  out 
to  the  place  quite  frequently.  We  boys,  for  hours  at  a  time, 
played  "  town  ball  "  on  the  vast  lawn,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  would 
join  ardently  in  the  sport.  I  remember  vividly  how  he  ran 
with  the  children ;  how  long  were  his  strides,  and  how  far 
his  coat-tails  stuck  out  behind,  and  how  we  tried  to  hit  him 
with  the  ball,  as  he  ran  the  bases.  He  entered  into  the  spirit 
of  the  play  as  completely  as  any  of  us,  and  we  invariably 
hailed  his  coming  with  delight. 

The  protecting  sympathy  and  tenderness  the  President  ex 
tended  to  all  children  became  a  passionate  affection  for  his 
own.  Willie  and  Tad  had  always  been  privileged  beings  at 
the  White  House,  and  their  pranks  and  companionship  un 
doubtedly  did  much  to  relieve  the  tremendous  strain  the 
President  was  suffering.  Many  visitors  who  saw  him  with 
the  lads  at  this  period  have  recorded  their  impressions : — 
how  keenly  he  enjoyed  the  children;  how  indulgent  and  af 
fectionate  he  was  with  them.  Again  and  again  he  related 
their  sayings,  sometimes  even  to  grave  delegations.  Thus 
Moncure  Conway  tells  of  going  to  see  the  President  with  a 
commission  which  wanted  to  "  talk  over  the  situation."  The 
President  met  them,  laughing  like  a  boy.  The  White  House 


THE  FAILURE  OF  FREMONT  89 

was  in  a  state  of  feverish  excitement,  he  said;  one  of  his 
boys  had  come  in  that  morning  to  tell  him  that  the  cat  had 
kittens,  and  now  the  other  had  just  announced  that  the  dog 
had  puppies. 

When  both  the  children  fell  ill ;  when  he  saw  them  suffer* 
ing,  and  when  it  became  evident,  as  it  finally  did,  that  Willie, 
the  elder  of  the  two,  would  die,  the  President's  anguish 
was  intense.  He  would  slip  away  from  visitors  and  Cabinet 
at  every  opportunity,  to  go  to  the  sick  room,  and  during  the 
last  four  or  five  days  of  Willie's  life,  when  the  child  was  suf 
fering  terribly  and  lay  in  an  unbroken  delirium,  Mr.  Lincoln 
shared  with  the  nurse  the  nightly  vigils  at  the  bedside.  When 
Willie  finally  died,  on  February  20,  the  President  was  so 
prostrated  that  it  was  feared  by  many  of  his  friends  that  he 
would  succumb  entirely  to  his  grief.  Many  public  duties  he 
undoubtedly  did  neglect.  Indeed,  a  month  after  Willie's 
death,  we  find  him  apologizing  for  delay  to  answer  a  letter 
because  of  a  "  domestic  affliction." 

If  one  consults  the  records  of  the  day,  however,  it  is  evi 
dent  that  Mr.  Lincoln  did  try  to  attend  to  public  duties  even 
in  the  worst  of  this  trial.  Only  two  days  after  the  funeral, 
on  February  23,  he  held  a  Cabinet  meeting,  and  the  day  fol 
lowing  that,  a  correspondent  wrote  to  the  New  York 
"  Evening  Post :  " 

Mr.  Lincoln  seems  to  have  entirely  recovered  his  health, 
and  is  again  at  his  ordinary  duties,  spending,  not  infre 
quently,  eighteen  out  of  the  twenty-four  hours  upon  the  af 
fairs  of  the  nation.  He  is  frequently  called  up  three  and  four 
times  in  a  night  to  receive  important  messages  from  the 
West.  Since  his  late  bereavement  he  looks  sad  and  care 
worn,  but  is  in  very  good  health  again. 

There  is  ample  evidence  that  in  this  crushing  grief  the 
President  sought  earnestly  to  find  what  consolation  the 
Christian  religion  might  have  fo<r  .him.  It  was  the  first  ex- 


90  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

perience  of  his  life,  so  far  as  we  know,  which  drove  him  t3 
look  outside  of  his  own  mind  and  heart  for  help  to  endure  a 
personal  grief.  It  was  the  first  time  in  his  life  when  he  had 
not  been  sufficient  for  his  own  experience.  Religion  up  to 
this  time  had  been  an  intellectual  interest.  The 
Christian  dogma  had  been  taught  him  as  a  child 
and  all  his  life  he  had  been  accustomed  to  hearing 
every  phase  of  human  conduct  and  experience  tested 
by  the  precepts  of  the  Bible  as  they  were  in 
terpreted  by  the  more  or  less  illiterate  church  of  the  West. 
For  a  short  period  of  his  life  when  he  was  about  twenty-five 
years  of  age,  it  is  certain  that  he  revolted  against  the  Chris 
tian  system,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  prepare  a  pamphlet 
against  it.  The  manuscript  of  this  work  was  destroyed  by 
his  friend,  Samuel  Hill.  This  period  of  doubt  passed,  and 
though  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  Mr.  Lincoln  returned 
to  the  literal  interpretation  of  Christianity  which  he  had 
been  taught,  and  though  he  never  joined  any  religious  sect, 
it  is  certain  that  he  regarded  the  Bible  and  the  church  with 
deep  reverence.  He  was  a  regular  attendant  upon  religious 
services,  and  one  has  only  to  read  his  letters  and  speeches  to 
realize  that  his  literary  style  and  his  moral  point  of  view 
were  both  formed  by  the  Bible. 

It  was  after  his  election  to  the  presidency  that  we  begin 
to  find  evidences  that  Mr.  Lincoln  held  to  the  belief  that 
the  affairs  of  men  are  in  the  keeping  of  a  Divine  Being  who 
hears  and  answers  prayer  and  who  is  to  be  trusted  to  bring 
about  the  final  triumph  of  the  right.  He  publicly  acknow 
ledged  such  a  faith  when  he  bade  his  Springfield  friends 
good-by  in  February,  1861.  In  his  first  inaugural  address, 
he  told  the  country  that  the  difficulty  between  North  and 
South  could  be  adjusted  in  "  the  best  way,"  by  "  intelli 
gence,  patriotism,  Christianity  and  a  firm  reliance  on  Him 
who  has  never  yet  forsaken  this  favored  knd."  When  he 


THE  FAILURE  OF  FREMONT  Qi: 

;  was  obliged  to  summon  a  Congress  to  provide  means  for  a 
'civil  war,  he  started  them  forth  on  their  duties  with  the 
words,  "  Let  us  renew  our  trust  in  God,  and  go  forward 
without  fear  and  with  manly  hearts."  In  August,  1861,  he 
issued  a  proclamation  for  a  National  Fast  Day  which  is  most 
impressive  for  its  reverential  spirit : 

"  Whereas  it  is  fit  and  becoming  in  all  people,  at  all  times, 
to  acknowledge  and  revere  the  supreme  government  of  God ; 
to  bow  in  humble  submission  to  His  chastisements;  to  con 
fess  and  deplore  their  sins  and  transgressions,  in  the  full  con 
viction  that  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom; 
and  to  pray  with  all  fervency  and  contrition  for  the  pardon 
of  their  past  offenses,  and  for  a  blessing  upon  their  present 
and  prospective  action : 

"And  whereas  when  our  own  beloved  country,  once,  by  the 
blessing  of  God,  united,  prosperous,  and  happy,  is  now 
afflicted  with  faction  and  civil  war,  it  is  peculiarly  fit  for  us 
to  recognize  the  hand  of  God  in  this  terrible  visitation,  and 
in  sorrowful  remembrance  of  our  own  faults  and  crimes  as  a 
nation,  and  as  individuals,  to  humble  ourselves  before  Hims 
and  to  pray  for  His  mercy — to  pray  that  we  may  be  spared 
further  punishment,  though  most  justly  deserved;  that  our 
arms  may  be  blessed  and  made  effectual  for  the  re-establish 
ment  of  law,  order,  and  peace  throughout  the  wide  extent  of 
our  country ;  and  that  the  inestimable  boon  of  civil  and  reli 
gious  liberty,  earned  under  His  guidance  and  blessing  by  the 
labors  and  sufferings  of  our  fathers,  may  be  restored  in  all 
its  original  excellence." 

But  it  is  not  until  after  the  death  of  his  son  that  we  begin 
to  find  evidence  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  making  a  personal  test 
of  Christianity.  Broken  by  his  anxiety  for  the  country, 
wounded  nigh  to  death  by  his  loss,  he  felt  that  he  must  have 
a  support  outside  of  himself ;  that  from  some  source  he  must 
draw  new  courage.  Could  he  find  the  help  he  needed  in  the 
Christian  faith?  From  this  time  on  he  was  seen  often  with 
the  Bible  in  his  hand,  and  he  is  known  to  have  prayed  fre- 


9*  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

quently.  His  personal  relation  to  God  occupied  his  mind 
much.  He  was  deeply  concerned  to  know,  as  he  told  a  visit 
ing  delegation  once,  not  whether  the  Lord  was  on  his  side, 
but  whether  he  was  on  the  Lord's  side.  Henceforth,  one  of 
the  most  real  influences  in  Abraham  Lincoln's  life  and  con 
duct  is  his  dependence  upon  a  personal  God. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

LINCOLN  AND  EMANCIPATION 

THE  22d  of  February  was  the  day  that  the  President  had 
set  for  an  advance  of  the  army  but  it  was  evident  to  both 
the  Administration  and  the  country  that  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  would  not  be  ready  to  move  then.  Nor  could  any 
body  find  from  McClellan  when  he  would  move.  The  mut 
tering  of  the  country  began  again.  Committee  after  com 
mittee  waited  on  the  President.  He  did  his  best  to  assure 
them  that  he  was  doing  all  he  could.  He  pointed  out  to  them 
how  time  and  patience,  as  well  as  men  and  money,  were 
needed  in  war,  and  he  argued  that,  above  all,  he  must  not 
be  interfered  with.  It  was  at  this  time  that  he  used  his  strik 
ing  illustration  of  Blondin.  Some  gentlemen  from  the  West 
called  at  the  White  House  one  day,  excited  and  troubled 
about  some  of  the  commissions  or  omissions  of  the  Admin 
istration.  The  President  heard  them  patiently,  and  then 
replied : "  Gentlemen,  suppose  all  the  property  you  were  worth 
was  in  gold  and  you  had  put  it  in  the  hands  of  Blondin,  to 
carry  across  the  Niagara  river  on  a  rope.  Would  you 
shake  the  cable  or  keep  shouting  at  him, '  Blondin,  stand  up  a 
little  straighter — Blondin,  stoop  a  little  more — go  a  little 
faster — lean  a  little  more  to  the  north — lean  a  little  more  to 
the  south  ?  '  No,  you  would  hold  your  breath  as  well  as  your 
tongue,  and  keep  your  hands  off  until  he  was  safe  over.  The 
Government  is  carrying  an  enormous  weight.  Untold  treas 
ures  are  in  their  hands;  they  are  doing  the  very  best  they 
can.  Don't  badger  them.  Keep  silence,  and  we  will  get  you 
safe  across." 

93 


94  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

One  of  the  most  insistent  of  the  many  bodies  which  beset 
him  was  the  Congressional  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the 
War,  appointed  the  December  before.  Aggressive  and  pa 
triotic,  these  gentlemen  were  determined  the  army  should 
move.  But  it  was  not  until  March  that  they  became 
convinced  that  anything  would  be  done.  One  day  early  in 
that  month,  Senator  Chandler,  of  Michigan,  a  member  of 
the  committee,  met  George  W.  Julian.  He  was  in  high 
glee.  "  Old  Abe  is  mad,"  he  said  to  Julian,  "  and  the  war 
will  now  go  on." 

Whether  it  would  or  not  remained  to  be  seen  but  it  was 
soon  evident  to  everybody  that  the  President  was  going  to 
make  another  effort  to  have  it  go  on  for  on  March  8  he  is 
sued  General  War  Orders  Nos.  II  and  III,  the  first  dividing 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  into  four  army  corps  and  the 
second  directing  that  the  move  against  Richmond  by  the  way 
of  the  'Chesapeake  bay  should  begin  as  early  as  the  i8th  of 
March  and  that  the  general-in-chief  should  be  responsible 
for  its  moving  as  early  as  that  day.  In  this  order  Lincoln 
made  the  important  stipulation  that  General  McClellan 
should  make  no  change  of  base  without  leaving  in  and  about 
Washington  a  force  sufficient  to  guarantee  its  safety. 

When  Lincoln  issued  the  above  orders  which  were  finally 
to  drive  McClellan  from  his  quarters  around  Washington, 
the  war  against  the  South  had  been  going  on  for  nearly  a 
year.  In  that  time  the  North  had  succeeded  in  gathering 
and  equipping  an  army  of  about  630,000  men,  but  this  army 
had  not  so  far  materially  changed  the  line  of  hostilities  be 
tween  the  North  and  South,  save  in  the  West,  where  Ken 
tucky  and  Northern  Missouri  had  been  cleared  of  most  of 
the  Confederates.  A  navy  had  been  collected  but  beyond  es 
tablishing  a  partial  blockade  of  the  ports  of  the  Confederacy 
it  had  done  little.  The  ineffectiveness  of  the  great  effort  the 
North  had  made  was  charged  naturally  to  the  inefficiency  of 


LINCOLN  AND  EMANCIPATION  95 

the  Administration.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  ignorant  and  weak, 
men  said,  else  he  would  have  found  generals  who  would  have 
won  victories.  A  large  part  of  the  North,  the  anti-slavery 
element,  bitterly  denounced  him,  because  he  had  taken  no 
action  as  yet  in  regard  to  slavery.  They  would  have 
him  employ  the  slaves  in  the  armies,  free  those  which 
escaped. 

Lincoln  understood  clearly  how  strong  a  weapon  against 
the  South  the  arming  and  emancipating  of  the  slaves  might 
be,  but  he  did  not  want  to  use  it.  Throughout  his  entire  po 
litical  life  he  had  disclaimed  any  desire  to  meddle  with  slav 
ery  in  the  States  where  the  Constitution  recognized  it.  He 
had  undertaken  the  war  not  to  free  men  but  to  preserve  the 
Union.  Moreover  he  feared  that  the  least  interference  with 
slavery  would  drive  from  him  those  States  lying  between 
the  North  and  South,  which  believed  in  the  institution  and 
yet  were  for  the  Union. 

Already  they  had  given  him  much  substantial  aid.  He 
hoped  to  win  them  entirely  to  the  North.  Emancipation 
would  surely  make  that  hope  vain.  It  was  largely  because 
he  wished  to  keep  their  support  that  when  as  had  happened 
twice  already  in  his  year  of  service,  prominent  subordinates 
had  attempted  to  help  the  Northern  cause  by  measures  af 
fecting  slavery,  he  had  promptly  annulled  their  orders. 

Yet  now  for  many  weeks  he  had  been  coming  to  the  con 
clusion  that  he  must  do  something  with  this  weapon.  He 
must  do  it  to  throw  confusion  into  the  South,  with  whom  so 
far  the  military  advantage  lay,  to  win  sympathy  from 
Europe,  which,  exasperated  by  the  suffering  which  the  fail 
ure  to  get  cotton  caused  the  people,  was  threatening  to  re 
cognize  the  Southern  Confederacy  as  an  independent  nation, 
above  all  to  disarm  the  enemy  in  his  rear — the  dissatisfied 
faction  of  his  own  supporters  who  were  beginning  to 
threaten  that  if  he  did  not  free  and  arm  the  slaves  he  could 


96  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

get  his  hands  on,  they  would  stop  the  arms  and  money  they 
were  sending  him  to  carry  on  the  war. 

All  through  the  fall  of  1861  he  was  examining  this 
weapon  of  emancipation,  much  as  a  man  in  a  desperate  situa 
tion  might  a  dagger  which  he  did  not  want  to  unsheath,  but 
feared  he  might  be  forced  to.  He  was  seeking  a  way  to  use 
it,  if  the  time  came  when  he  must,  that  would  accomplish  all 
the  ends  he  had  in  view  and  still  would  not  drive  the  Border 
States  from  the  Union.  The  plan  upon  which  he  finally  set 
tled  was  a  simple  and  just,  though  impracticable  one — he 
would  ask  Congress  to  set  aside  money  gradually  to  buy  and 
free  the  negroes  in  those  States  that  could  be  persuaded  to 
give  up  the  institution  of  slavery.  Having  freed  the  slaves, 
he  proposed  that  Congress  should  colonize  them  in  territory 
bought  for  the  purpose. 

According  to  Charles  Sumner,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  this  plan 
of  compensated  emancipation  well  developed  by  December 
I,  1 86 1.  The  Senator  reached  Washington  on  that  day,  and 
went  in  the  evening  to  call  on  the  President.  Together  they 
talked  over  the  annual  message,  which  was  to  be  sent  to  Con 
gress  on  the  3d.  Mr.  Sumner  was  disappointed  that  it  said 
nothing  about  emancipation.  He  had  been  speaking  in 
Massachusetts  on  "  Emancipation  our  Best  Weapon,"  and 
he  ardently  desired  that  the  President  use  the  weapon.  The 
President  explained  the  plan  he  had  developed,  and  Mr. 
Sumner  urged  that  it  be  presented  at  once.  Mr.  Lincoln  de 
clined  to  agree  to  this,  but  as  he  rose  to  say  good-by  to  his 
visitor,  he  remarked : 

"  Well,  Mr.  Sumner,  the  only  difference  between  you  and 
me  on  this  subject  is  a  difference  of  a  month  or  six  weeks  in 
time." 

"  Mr.  President,"  said  Mr.  Sumner,  "  if  that  is  the  only 
difference  between  us,  I  will  not  say  another  word  to  you 
about  it  till  the  long-set  time  you  name  has  passed  by." 

"  Nor  should  I  have  done  so,"  continues  Sumner  in  telling 


LINCOLN  AND  EMANCIPATION  97 

the  story,  "  but  about  a  fortnight  after,  when  I  was  with  him, 
he  introduced  the  subject  himself,  asked  my  opinion  on  some 
details  of  his  plan,  and  told  me  where  it  labored  his  mind. 
At  that  time  he  had  the  hope  that  some  one  of  the  Border 
States,  Delaware,  perhaps,  if  nothing  better  could  be  got, 
might  be  brought  to  make  a  proposition  which  could  be  made 
use  of  as  the  initiation  to  hitch  the  whole  thing  to.  *  He 
was  in  correspondence  with  some  persons  at  a  distance  with 
this  view,  but  he  did  not  consult  a  person  in  Washington, 
excepting  Mr.  Chase  and  Mr.  Blair,  and  myself.  Seward 
knew  nothing  about  it." 

Sumner  could  not  keep  still,  after  this,  about  the  plan.  Al 
most  every  time  he  saw  Lincoln  he  put  in  a  word.  Thus, 
when  the  Trent  affair  was  up,  he  took  occasion  to  read 
the  President  a  little  lecture : 

"  Now,  Mr.  President,"  he  said,  "  if  you  had  done  your 
duty  earlier  in  the  slavery  matter,  you  would  not  have  this 
trouble  on  you.  Now  you  have  no  friends,  or  the  country 
has  none,  because  it  has  no  policy  upon  slavery.  The  country 
has  no  friends  in  Europe,  excepting  isolated  persons.  Eng 
land  is  not  a  friend.  France  is  not.  But  if  you  had 
commenced  your  policy  about  slavery,  this  thing  could  and 
would  have  come  and  gone  and  would  have  given  you  no 
anxiety.  .  .  . 

"  Every  time  I  saw  him  I  spoke  to  him  about  it,  and  I  saw 
him  every  two  or  three  days.  One  day  I  said  to  him,  I  re 
member,  '  I  want  you  to  make  Congress  a  New  Year's 
present  of  your  plan.  But  he  had  some  reason  still  for  delay. 
He  was  in  correspondence  with  Kentucky,  there  was  a  Mr. 
Speed  in  Kentucky  to  whom  he  was  writing;  he  read  me 
one  of  his  letters  once,  and  he  thought  he  should  hear  from 
there  how  people  would  be  affected  by  such  a  plan.'  At  one 

*The  conversation  between  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Sumner  here  re 
ported  is  taken  from  an  unpublished  manuscript  courteously  put  at  my 
disposal  by  the  Rev.  Edward  Everett  Hale.  Mr.  Hale  visited  Washing 
ton  in  April,  1862,  and  called  on  Mr.  Sumner,  who  entertained  him  with 
the  history  of  the  President's  Message  on  Compensated  Emancipation. 
He  made  the  full  notes  of  the  story,  which  are  here  published. 

(7) 


98  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

time  I  thought  he  would  send  in  the  message  on  New  Year's 
Day;  and  I  said  something  about  what  a  glorious  thing  it 
would  be.  But  he  stopped  me  in  a  moment;  '  Don't  say  a 
word  about  that/  he  said;  '  I  know  very  well  that  the  name 
which  is  connected  with  this  act  will  never  be  forgotten.' 
Well,  there  was  one  delay  and  another,  but  I  always  spoke  to 
him  till  one  day  in  January  he  said  sadly  that  he  had  been  up 
all  night  with  his  sick  child.  I  was  very  much  touched,  and  I 
resolved  that  I  would  say  nothing  to  the  President  about  this 
or  any  other  business  if  I  could  help  it  till  that  child  was  well 
or  dead.  And  I  did  not.  ...  I  had  never  said  a 
word  to  him  again  about  it — one  morning  here,  before  I  had 
breakfast,  before  I  was  up  indeed,  both  his  secretaries  came 
over  to  say  that  he  wanted  to  see  me  as  soon  as  I  could  see 
him.  I  dressed  at  once,  and  went  over.  '  I  want  to  read 
you  my  message/  he  said ;  '  I  want  to  know  how  you  like  it. 
I  am  going  to  send  it  in  to-day/  ' 

It  was  on  the  morning  of  March  6,  1862,  that  Mr.  Lin 
coln  sent  for  Mr.  Sumner  to  read  his  message.  A  few  hours 
later,  when  the  Senator  reached  the  Capitol,  he  went  to  the 
Senate  desk  to  see  if  the  President  had  carried  out  his  inten 
tion.  Yes,  the  document  was  there. 

As  Mr.  Sumner's  history  of  the  message  given  to  Dr.  Hale 
shows,  Mr.  Lincoln  for  months  quietly  prepared  the  way  for 
his  plan.  One  of  his  most  adroit  preparatory  manoeuvers, 
and  one  of  which  Mr.  Sumner  evidently  knew  nothing,  was 
performed  in  New  York  City,  through  the  Hon.  Carl  Schurz, 
who  at  that  time  was  the  American  Minister  to  Spain.* 

Mr.  Schurz,  who  had  gone  to  Madrid  in  1861,  had  not 
been  long  there  before  he  concluded  that  there  would  be  great 
danger  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  being  recognized  by 
France  and  England  unless  the  aspect  of  the  situation  was 

*The  following  accounts  of  Mr.  Schurz's  interviews  with  Mr.  Lincoln 
and  the  plan  the  two  gentlemen  arranged  for  introducing  the  subject  of 
compensated  emancipation  to  the  public  was  given  me  by  Mr.  Schurz 
himself.  The  manuscript  has  been  corrected  by  him,  and  is  published 
with  his  permission. 


LINCOLN  AND  EMANCIPATION  99 

speedily  changed,  either  by  a  decisive  military  success,  or 
by  some  evidence  on  the  part  of  the  Administration  that  the 
war  was  to  end  in  the  destruction  of  slavery.  If  the  conflict 
were  put  on  this  high  moral  plane,  Mr.  Schurz  believed  the 
sympathy  of  the  people  in  Europe  would  be  so  strong  with 
the  North  that  interference  in  favor  of  the  South  would  be 
impossible.  All  of  this  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Seward  in  Septem 
ber  of  1 86 1,  but  he  received  no  reply  to  his  letter  other  than  a 
formal  acknowledgment. 

After  a  little  time,  Mr.  Schurz  wrote  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  say 
ing  that  he  wanted  to  come  to  Washington  and  personally 
represent  to  the  Administration  what  he  conceived  to  be  the 
true  nature  of  public  opinion  in  Europe.  Mr.  Lincoln  wrote 
to  him  to  come,  and  he  arrived  in  Washington  in  the  last 
week  of  January,  1862.  He  went  at  once  to  the  White 
House,  where  he  was  received  by  the  President,  who  listened 
attentively  to  his  arguments,  the  same  he  had  made  by  letter 
to  Mr.  Seward.  When  he  had  finished  his  presentation  of 
the  case,  Mr.  Lincoln  said  that  he  was  inclined  to  accept  that 
view,  but  that  he  was  not  sure  that  the  public  sentiment  of 
the  country  was  ripe  for  such  a  policy.  It  had  to  be  educated 
up  to  it.  Would  not  Mr.  Schurz  go  to  New  York  and 
talk  the  matter  over  with  their  friends,  some  of  whom  he 
named  ? 

Mr.  Schurz  assented,  and  a  few  days  afterwards  reported 
to  Mr.  Lincoln  that  the  organization  of  an  "  Emancipation 
Society,"  for  the  purpose  of  agitating  the  idea,  had  been 
started  in  New  York,  and  that  a  public  meeting  would  be 
held  at  the  Cooper  Union  on  March  6. 

"That's  it;  that  is  the  very  thing,"  Mr.  Lincoln  replied. 
:<  You  must  make  a  speech  at  this  meeting.  Go  home  and 
prepare  it.  When  you  have  got  it  outlined,  bring  it  to  me, 
and  I  will  see  what  you  are  going  to  say." 

Mr.  Schurz  did  so.  and  in  a  few  days  submitted  to  Mr. 


100  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

Lincoln  the  skeleton  of  his  argument  on  "  Emancipation  as 
a  Peace  Measure." 

"  That  is  the  right  thing  to  say,"  the  President  declared 
after  reading  it,  "  And,  remember,  you  may  hear  from  me  on 
the  same  day." 

On  March  6  the  speech  was  delivered,  as  had  been  ar 
ranged,  before  an  audience  which  packed  Cooper  Union.  No 
more  logical  and  eloquent  appeal  for  emancipation  was  made 
in  all  the  war  period.  The  audience  received  it  with  repeated 
cheers,  and  when  Mr.  Schurz  sat  down  "  the  applause  shook 
the  hall,"  if  we  may  believe  the  reporter  of  the  New  York 
"  Tribune."  Just  as  the  meeting  was  adjourning,  Mr. 
Schurz  did  hear  from  Mr.  Lincoln,  a  copy  of  the  message 
given  that  afternoon  to  Congress  being  placed  in  his  hands, 
He  at  once  read  it  to  the  audience,  which,  already  thoroughly 
aroused,  now  broke  out  again  in  a  "  tremendous  burst  of  ap 
plause." 

The  first  effect  of  the  message  was  to  unite  the  radical 
supporters  of  Mr.  Lincoln  with  the  more  moderate.  "  We 
are  all  brought  by  the  common-sense  message,"  said  "  Har 
per's  Weekly,"  "  upon  the  same  platform.  The  cannon  shot 
against  Fort  Sumter  effected  three-fourths  of  our  political 
lines;  the  President's  message  has  wiped  out  the  remaining 
fourth."  But  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  keen  disappointment,  the 
Border  State  representatives  in  Congress  let  the  proposition 
pass  in  silence.  He  saw  one  and  another  of  them  but  not  a 
word  did  they  say  of  the  message.  The  President  stood  this 
for  four  days,  then  he  summoned  them  to  the  White  House 
to  explain  his  position. 

The  talk  was  long  and  entirely  friendly.  The  President 
said  he  did  not  pretend  to  disguise  his  anti-slavery  feeling; 
that  he  thought  slavery  was  wrong,  and  should  continue  to 
think  so;  but  that  was  not  the  question  they  had  to  deal 
with.  Slavery  existed,  and  that,  too,  as  well  by  the  act  of  the 


LINCOLN  IN  1861.    AGE  52 

From  photograph  taken  at  Springfield,  Illinois,   early  in  1861,  by  C.   S.  German,  and  owned  by 

Allen  Jasper  Conant 


LINCOLN  AND  EMANCIPATION  1C  I 

North  as  of  the  South;  and  in  any  scheme  to  get  rid  of  it, 
the  North  as  well  as  the  South  was  morally  bound  to  do  its 
full  and  equal  share.  He  thought  the  institution  wrong  and 
ought  never  to  have  existed ;  but  yet  he  recognized  the  rights 
of  property  which  had  grown  out  of  it,  and  would  respect 
those  rights  as  fully  as  similar  rights  in  any  other  property ; 
that  property  can  exist,  and  does  legally  exist.  He  thought 
such  a  law  wrong,  but  the  rights  of  property  resulting  must 
be  respected ;  he  would  get  rid  of  the  odious  law,  not  by  vio 
lating  the  right,  but  by  encouraging  the  proposition,  and 
offering  inducements  to  give  it  up.  The  representatives  as 
sured  Mr.  Lincoln  before  they  left  that  they  believed  him  to 
be  "  moved  by  a  high  patriotism  and  sincere  devotion  to  the 
happiness  and  glory  of  his  country ;  "  they  promised  him  to 
"  consider  respectfully  "  the  suggestions  he  had  made,  but 
it  must  have  been  evident  to  the  President  that  they  either 
had  little  sympathy  with  his  plan  or  that  they  believed  it 
would  receive  no  favor  from  their  constituents. 

Although  the  message  failed  to  arouse  the  Border  States, 
it  did  stimulate  the  anti-slavery  party  in  Congress  to  com 
plete  several  practical  measures.  Acts  of  Congress  were 
rapidly  approved  forbidding  the  army  and  navy  to  aid  in  the 
return  of  fugitive  slaves,  recognizing  the  independence  of 
Liberia  and  Haiti,  and  completing  a  treaty  with  Great  Brit 
ain  to  suppress  slave  trading.  One  of  the  most  interesting  of 
the  acts  which  followed  close  on  the  message  of  March  6 
emancipated  immediately  all  the  slaves  in  the  District  of 
Columbia.  One  million  dollars  was  appropriated  by  Con 
gress  to  pay  the  loyal  slaveholders  of  the  District  for  their 
loss,  and  $100,000  was  set  aside  to  pay  the  expenses  of  such 
negroes  as  desired  to  emigrate  to  Haiti  or  Liberia. 

The  Administration  was  now  committed  to  compensated 
emancipation,  but  there  were  many  radicals  who  grew  restive 
at  the  slow  working  of  the  measure.  They  began  again  to  call 


102  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

for  more  trenchant  use  of  the  weapon  in  Lincoln's  hand. 
The  commander  of  the  Department  of  the  South,  General 
David  Hunter,  in  his  zeal,  even  issued  an  order  declaring : 

Slavery  and  martial  law  in  a  free  country  are  altogether 
incompatible;  the  persons  in  ...  Georgia,  Florida, 
and  South  Carolina  heretofore  held  as  slaves,  are  therefore 
declared  forever  free. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  first  knowledge  of  this  proclamation  came 
to  him  through  the  newspapers.  He  at  once  pronounced  it 
void.  At  the  same  time  he  made  a  declaration  at  which  a 
man  less  courageous,  one  less  confident  in  his  own  policy, 
would  have  hesitated — a  declaration  of  his  intention  that  no 
one  but  himself  should  decide  how  the  weapon  in  his  hand 
was  to  be  used  : 

I  further  make  known  that,  whether  it  be  competent  for 
me,  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy,  to  declare 
the  slaves  of  any  State  or  States  free,  and  whether,  at  any 
time,  in  any  case,  it  shall  have  become  a  necessity  indispens 
able  to  the  maintenance  of  the  government  to  exercise  such 
supposed  power,  are  questions  which,  under  my  responsi 
bility,  I  reserve  to  myself,  and  which  I  cannot  feel  justified 
in  leaving  to  the  decision  of  commanders  in  the  field. 

It  was  a  public  display  of  a  trait  of  Mr.  Lincoln  of  which 
the  country  had  already  several  examples.  He  made  his 
own  decisions,  trusted  his  own  judgment  as  a  final  authority. 

In  revoking  Hunter's  order,  Mr.  Lincoln  again  appealed 
to  the  Border  States  to  accept  his  plan  of  buying  and  freeing 
their  slaves,  and  as  if  to  warn  them  that  the  unauthorized 
step  which  Hunter  had  dared  to  take  might  yet  be  forced 
upon  the  administration,  he  said : 

I  do  not  argue — I  beseech  you  to  make  arguments  for 
yourselves.  You  cannot,  if  you  would,  be  blind  to  the  signs 
of  the  times.  I  beg  of  you  a  calm  and  enlarged  considera- 


LINCOLN  AND  EMANCIPATION  103 

tion  of  them,  ranging,  if  it  may  be,  far  above  personal  and 
partizan  politics.  This  proposal  makes  common  cause  for  a 
common  object,  casting  no  reproaches  upon  any.  It  acts 
not  the  Pharisee.  The  change  it  contemplates  would  come 
gently  as  the  dews  of  heaven,  not  rending  or  wrecking  any 
thing.  Will  you  not  embrace  it?  So  much  good  has  not 
been  done,  by  one  effort,  in  all  past  time,  as  in  the  provi 
dence  of  God  it  is  now  your  high  privilege  to  do.  May 
the  vast  future  not  have  to  lament  that  you  have  neglected  it. 

The  President's  treatment  of  Hunter's  order  dissatisfied 
many  who  had  been  temporarily  quieted  by  the  message  of 
March  6.  Again  they  besought  the  President  to  emanci 
pate  and  arm  the  slaves.  The  authority  and  magnitude  of 
the  demand  became  such  that  Mr.  Lincoln  fairly  staggered 
under  it.  Still  he  would  not  yield.  He  could  not  give  up  yet 
his  hope  of  a  more  peaceful  and  just  system  of  emancipation. 
But  while  he  could  not  do  what  was  asked  of  him,  he  seems 
to  have  felt  that  it  was  possible  that  he  was  wrong,  and  that 
another  man  in  his  place  would  be  able  to  see  the  way.  In  a 
remarkable  interview  held  early  in  the  summer  with  several 
Republican  senators,  among  whom  was  the  Honorable 
James  Harlan,  of  Mt.  Pleasant,  Iowa,  the  President  actually 
offered  to  resign  and  let  Mr.  Hamlin,  the  Vice-President, 
initiate  the  policy.* 

The  senators  went  to  Mr.  Lincoln  to  urge  upon  him  the 
paramount  importance  of  mustering  slaves  into  the  Union 
army.  They  argued  that  as  the  war  was  really  to  free  the 
negro,  it  was  only  fair  that  he  should  take  his  part  in  work 
ing  out  his  own  salvation.  Mr.  Lincoln  listened  thought 
fully  to  every  argument,  and  then  replied : 

Gentlemen,  I  have  put  thousands  of  muskets  into  the 
hands  of  loyal  citizens  of  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  and  Western 

*  The  account  of  this  interview  was  given  to  me  by  the  late  Hon. 
James  Harlan  of  Mt.  Pleasant,  Iowa,  and  was  corrected  by  him  before 
his  death. 


104  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

North  Carolina.  They  have  said  they  could  defend  them 
selves,  if  they  had  guns.  I  have  given  them  the  guns. 
Now,  these  men  do  not  believe  in  mustering  in  the  negro. 
If  I  do  it,  these  thousands  of  muskets  will  be  turned  against 
us.  We  should  lose  more  than  we  should  gain. 

The  gentlemen  urged  other  considerations,  among*  them 
that  it  was  not  improbable  that  Europe,  which  was  anti- 
slavery  in  sentiment,  but  yet  sympathized  with  the  notion 
of  a  Southern  Confederacy,  preferring  two  nations  to  one 
in  this  country,  would  persuade  the  South  to  free  her  slaves 
in  consideration  of  recognition.  After  they  had  exhausted 
every  argument,  Mr.  Lincoln  answered  them. 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  I  can't  do  it.  I  can't  see  it  as 
you  do.  You  may  be  right,  and  I  may  be  wrong;  but  I'll 
tell  you  what  I  can  do ;  I  can  resign  in  favor  of  Mr.  Hamlin. 
Perhaps  Mr.  Hamlin  could  do  it." 

The  senators,  amazed  at  this  proposition,  "  which,"  says 
Senator  Harlan,  "  was  made  with  the  greatest  seriousness, 
and  of  which  not  one  of  us  doubted  the  sincerity,"  hastened 
to  assure  the  President  that  they  could  not  consider  such  a 
step  on  his  part ;  that  he  stood  where  he  could  see  all  around 
the  horizon;  that  he  must  do  what  he  thought  right;  that, 
in  any  event,  he  must  not  resign. 

If  at  this  juncture  McClellan  had  given  the  President  a 
successful  campaign  it  is  probable  that  the  radicals  would 
have  been  more  patient  with  the  measure  for  compensated 
emancipation.  The  Border  States  seeing  an  overthrow  of  the 
Confederacy  imminent  might  have  hastened  to  avail  them 
selves  of  it.  But  McClellan  was  giving  the  President  little 
but  anxiety.  He  had  undertaken  the  long  deferred  cam 
paign  against  Richmond  at  the  beginning  of  April,  but  had 
begun  by  disobeying  the  clause  of  the  President's  order 
which  instructed  him  to  leave  enough  troops  around  Wash. 


LINCOLN  AND  EMANCIPATION  105 

ington  to  insure  its  safety.  When  he  arrived  in  the  Penin 
sula  he  began  to  fortify  his  position  as  if  he  were  entering  on 
a  defensive  instead  of  offensive  campaign,  and  it  was  only 
after  repeated  probing  by  the  administration  that  he  ad 
vanced.  Every  mile  of  his  route  towards  Richmond  was 
made  only  after  urgent  pleas  and  orders  from  the  President 
and  the  Secretary  of  War  and  bitter  complaints  and  forebod 
ings  on  his  part. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  attitude  towards  his  general-in-chief  in  this 
trying  spring  of  1862  is  a  most  interesting  study.  He  evi 
dently  had  determined  to  exercise  fully  his  power  as  com- 
mander-in-chief,  to  force  McClellan  into  battle  and  to  compel 
him  to  carry  out  the  orders  which  he  as  chief  executive  gave. 
Conscious  of  his  ignorance  of  military  matters,  and  anxious 
to  avoid  errors,  he  exhausted  every  source  of  information 
on  the  army  and  its  movements.  Secretary  Stanton  him 
self  did  not  watch  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  more  closely  in 
this  campaign  than  did  President  Lincoln.  Indeed,  of  the 
three  rooms  occupied  by  the  military  telegraph  office  at  the 
War  Department,  one  came  to  be  called  the  "  President's 
room,"  so  much  time  did  he  spend  there.  During  a  part  of 
the  war,  this  room  was  occupied  by  Mr.  A.  B.  Chandler,  now 
the  President  of  the  Postal  Telegraph  Union. 

"  I  was  alone  in  this  room,"  says  Mr.  Chandler,  "  and 
as  few  people  came  there  to  see  me,  Mr.  Lincoln  could  be 
alone.  He  used  to  say,  '  I  come  here  to  escape  my  perse 
cutors.  Many  people  call  and  say  they  want  to  see  me  for 
only  a  minute.  That  means,  if  I  can  hear  their  story  and 
grant  their  request  in  a  minute,  it  will  be  enough/  My 
desk  was  a  large  one  with  a  flat  top,  and  intended  to  be  occu 
pied  on  both  sides.  Mr.  Lincoln  ordinarily  took  the  chair 
opposite  mine  at  this  desk.  Here  he  would  read  over  the 
telegrams  received  for  the  several  heads  of  departments,  all 
of  which  came  to  this  office.  It  was  the  practice  to  make  three 


106  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

'copies  of  all  messages  received,  to  whomsoever  addressed. 
One  of  these  was  what  we  called  a  '  hard  copy/  and  was 
saved  for  the  records  of  the  War  Department ;  two  carbon 
copies  were  made  by  stylus,  on  yellow  tissue  paper,  one  for 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  one  for  Mr.  Stanton.  Mr.  Lincoln's  copies 
were  kept  in  what  we  called  the  *  President's  drawer  '  of  the 
'  cipher  desk.'  He  would  come  in  at  any  time  of  the  night 
or  day,  and  go  at  once  to  this  drawer,  and  take  out  a  file  of 
the  telegrams,  and  begin  at  the  top  to  read  them.  His  posi 
tion  in  running  over  these  telegrams  was  sometimes  very 
curious.  He  had  a  habit  of  sitting  frequently  on  the  edge  of 
his  chair,  with  his  right  knee  dragged  down  to  the  floor. 
I  remember  a  curious  expression  of  his  when  he  got  to  the 
bottom  of  the  new  telegrams  and  began  on  those  that  he  had 
read  before.  It  was,  '  Well,  I  guess  I  have  got  down  to  the 
raisins.'  The  first  two  or  three  times  he  said  this  he  made 
no  explanation,  and  I  did  not  ask  one.  But  one  day,  after 
the  remark,  he  looked  up  under  his  eyebrows  at  me  with  a 
funny  twinkle  in  his  eyes,  and  said,  *  I  used  to  know  a  little 
girl  out  West  who  sometimes  was  inclined  to  eat  too  much. 
One  day  she  ate  a  good  many  more  raisins  than  she  ought 
to,  and  followed  them  up  with  a  quantity  of  other  goodies. 
It  made  her  very  sick.  After  a  time  the  raisins  began  to 
come.  She  gasped  and  looked  at  her  mother,  and  said, 
"  Well,  I  will  be  better  now,  I  guess,  for  I  have  got  down  to 
the  raisins." 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  frequently  wrote  telegrams  in  my  office. 
His  method  of  composition  was  slow  and  laborious.  It  was 
evident  that  he  thought  out  what  he  was  going  to  say  before 
he  touched  his  pen  to  the  paper.  He  would  sit  looking  out 
of  the  window,  his  left  elbow  on  the  table,  his  hand  scratch 
ing  his  temple,  his  lips  moving,  and  frequently  he  spoke 
the  sentence  aloud  or  in  a  half  whisper.  After  he  was  satis 
fied  that  he  had  the  proper  expression,  he  would  write  it 


LINCOLN  AND  EMANCIPATION  107 


out.  If  one  examines  the  originals  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
grams  and  letters,  he  will  find  very  few  erasures  and  veiy 
little  interlining.  This  was  because  he  had  them  definitely 
in  his  mind  before  writing  them.  In  this  he  was  the  exact 
opposite  of  Mr.  Stanton,  who  wrote  with  feverish  haste, 
often  scratching  out  words,  and  interlining  frequently. 
Sometimes  he  would  seize  a  sheet  which  he  had  filled,  and 
impatiently  tear  it  into  pieces." 

It  is  only  necessary  to  examine  the  letters  and  telegrams 
Lincoln  sent  to  McClellan  in  the  campaign  of  1862  to  appre 
ciate  the  rare  patience  and  still  rarer  firmness  and  common- 
sense  with  which  he  was  handling  his  hard  military  prob 
lems.  As  has  been  said  McClellan  began  his  campaign  by 
disobeying  the  order  to  leave  Washington  fully  guarded. 
The  President  learning  this  kept  back  a  corps  of  the  army. 
McClellan  protested  but  Lincoln  would  not  give  up  the 
force.  "  Do  you  really  think,"  he  wrote  McClellan,  "  I 
should  permit  the  line  from  Richmond  via  Manassas  Junction 
to  this  city  to  be  entirely  open,  except  what  resistance  could 
be  presented  by  less  than  20,000  unorganized  troops  ?  This 
is  a  question  which  the  country  will  not  allow  me  to  evade." 

When  it  became  evident  that  McClellan  did  not  intend 
to  advance  promptly  the  President  made  a  vigorous  protest. 

Once  more  let  me  tell  you  it  is  indispensable  to  you  that 
you  should  strike  a  blow.  I  am  powerless  to  help  this.  You 
will  do  me  the  justice  to  remember  I  always  insisted  that 
going  down  the  bay  in  search  of  a  field,  instead  of  fighting 
at  or  near  Manassas,  was  only  shifting  and  not  surmounting 
a  difficulty;  that  we  would  find  the  same  enemy  and  the 
same  or  equal  intrenchments  at  either  place.  The  country 
will  not  fail  to  note  —  is  noting  now  —  that  the  present  hesi 
tation  to  move  upon  an  intrenched  enemy  is  but  the  story  of 
Manassas  repeated. 

I  beg  to  assure  you  that  I  have  never  written  you  or 
spoken  to  you  in  greater  kindness  of  feeling  than  now,  nor 


io8  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

with  a  fuller  purpose  to  sustain  you,  so  far  as  in  my  most 
anxious  judgment  I  consistently  can;   but  you  must  act. 

McClellan  did  act  but  with  such  caution  that  he  consumed 
all  of  April  and  most  of  May  in  working  his  way  up  the 
Peninsula  to  Richmond.  Every  move  he  made  was  under 
protest  that  his  force  was  too  small  and  with  incessant  com 
plaint  that  the  administration  was  not  supporting  him.  To 
wards  the  end  of  May  when  an  extra  corps,  that  of  Mc 
Dowell,  was  on  its  way  to  Richmond  to  co-operate  with 
McClellan  the  administration  became  alarmed  by  a  threat 
ened  attack  on  Washington  and  recalled  McDowell.  The 
most  intelligent  military  authorities  criticise  Mr.  Lincoln  for 
withdrawing  this  force  just  as  the  attack  on  the  Confeder 
ates  was  at  last  to  be  made.  It  was  an  honest  enough  error 
on  the  President's  part.  He  believed  the  capital  in  danger. 
— He  knew  too  that  with  98,000  men  present  for  duty  Mc 
Clellan  ought  to  be  able  to  take  care  of  himself.  The  gen- 
eral-in-chief,  however,  regarded  this  interference  with  his 
plans  as  added  proof  that  the  President  did  not  intend  to 
support  him,  wished  his  overthrow,  and  he  sent  the  bitterest 
complaints  to  Washington.  The  President  wrote  him  on 
May  25  full  explanations  of  the  situation  as  he  saw  it,  and 
begged  him  to  go  ahead  and  do  his  best. 

"  If  McDowell's  force  was  now  beyond  our  reach,"  he 
said,  "  we  should  be  utterly  helpless.  Apprehension  of  some 
thing  like  this,  and  no  unwillingness  to  sustain  you,  has 
always  been  my  reason  for  withholding  McDowell's  force 
from  you.  Please  understand  this,  and  do  the  best  you  can 
with  the  force  you  have." 

Three  days  later,  after  the  fighting  for  Richmond  had 
really  begun,  he  telegraphed  him,  "  I  am  painfully  impressed 
with  the  importance  of  the  struggle  before  you,  and  shall 
aid  you  all  I  can  consistently  with  my  view  of  due  regard  to 
all  points." 


LINCOLN  AND  EMANCIPATION  109 

And  through  the  month  following  while  McClellan  was 
engaged  in  the  series  of  battles  by  which  he  hoped  to  get 
into  Richmond  the  President  did  sustain  him  in  every  way 
he  could,  sending  him  troops  as  he  could  get  them,  counsel 
ling  him  whenever  he  saw  a  weak  point,  encouraging  him 
after  every  engagement.  The  result  of  the  campaign  was 
disastrous.  After  working  his  way  to  within  a  few  miles 
of  Richmond  McClellan  was  forced  back  to  the  James 
River,  and  in  a  burst  of  bitter  despair  he  telegraphed  to 
Washington : 

If,  at  this  instant  I  could  dispose  of  ten  thousand  fresh 
men,  I  could  gain  a  victory  to-morrow.  I  know  that  a  few 
thousand  more  men  would  have  changed  this  battle  from 
a  defeat  to  a  victory.  As  it  is,  the  Government  must  not  and 
cannot  hold  me  responsible  for  the  result.  I  feel  too  ear 
nestly  to-night;  I  have  seen  too  many  dead  and  wounded 
comrades  to  feel  otherwise  than  that  the  Government  has 
not  sustained  this  army.  If  you  do  not  do  so  now,  the  game 
is  lost.  If  I  save  this  army  now,  I  tell  you  plainly  that  I  owe 
no  thanks  to  you  or  to  any  person  in  Washington.  You 
have  done  your  best  to  sacrifice  this  army, 

"  Save  your  army  at  all  events,"  Lincoln  replied.  "  Will 
send  re-enforcements  as  fast  as  we  can.  Of  course  they  can 
not  reach  you  to-day,  to-morrow,  or  next  day.  I  have  not 
said  you  were  ungenerous  for  saying  you  needed  re-enforce 
ments.  I  thought  you  were  ungenerous  in  assuming  that  I 
did  not  send  them  as  fast  as  I  could.  I  feel  any  misfortune 
to  you  and  your  army  quite  as  keenly  as  you  feel  it  yourself. 
If  you  have  had  a  drawn  battle,  or  a  repulse,  it  is  the  price  we 
pay  for  the  enemy  not  being  in  Washington.  We  protected 
Washington,  and  the  enemy  concentrated  on  you.  Had  we 
stripped  Washington,  he  would  have  been  upon  us  before  the 
troops  could  have  gotten  to  you.  Less  than  a  week  ago  you 
notified  us  that  re-enforcements  were  leaving  Richmond  to 
come  in  front  of  us.  It  is  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  neither 
you  nor  the  Government  are  to  blame.  Please  tell  at  once 
the  present  condition  and  aspect  of  things." 


110  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

This  was  June  28.  Mr.  Lincoln  hoped  that  McClellan 
might  yet  recover  his  position,  but  the  developments  of  the 
next  two  days  showed  him  the  campaign  was  a  failure.  It 
was  a  terrible  blow.  "  When  the  Peninsula  campaign  ter 
minated  suddenly  at  Harrison's  Landing,"  Mr.  Lincoln  said 
once  to  a  friend  who  asked  him  if  he  had  ever  despaired  of 
his  country,  "I  was  as  nearly  inconsolable  as  I  could  be 
and  live." 

But  he  neither  faltered  nor  blamed.  He  bade  McClellan 
"  find  a  place  of  security  and  wait  and  rest  and  repair," 
to  maintain  his  ground  if  he  could  but  to  save  his  army  even 
if  he  fell  back  to  Fort  Monroe.  And  he  went  to  work  to 
bring  light  into  about  as  black  a  situation  as  a  President  ever 
faced.  His  first  duty  was  to  ask  men  of  the  sorrowing  and 
angry  country.  The  War  Department  had  felt  so  certain  in 
April  when  McClellan  started  on  the  Peninsula  campaign 
that  it  had  force  enough  to  finish  the  war  that  recruiting 
had  been  stopped.  Now  a  new  call  was  made  for  300,000 
men  for  three  years.  ' 

In  order  to  learn  the  situation  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac  more  exactly  than  he  could  from  McClellan's  de 
spairing  and  often  contradictory  letters  and  telegrams,  the 
President  himself  went  to  Harrison's  Landing  in  July.  The 
first  and  important  result  of  his  visit  was  that  it  fixed  his 
determination  to  do  something  immediately  about  emancipa 
tion.  He  was  convinced  that  he  was  not  going  to  have  any 
military  encouragement  very  soon  to  offer  to  his  supporters. 
But  he  must  show  them  some  fruits  of  their  efforts,  some 
sign  that  the  men  and  money  they  were  pouring  into  "  Mc 
Clellan's  trap,"  as  it  was  beginning  to  be  called,  were  not 
lost;  that  the  new  call  for  300,000  men  just  made  was  not 
to  be  in  vain.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  use  emancipa 
tion  in  some  way  as  a  weapon,  and  he  summoned  the  repre 
sentatives  of  the  Border  States  to  the  White  House  on  July 


LINCOLN  AND  EMANCIPATION  1 1 1 

12,  and  made  an  earnest,  almost  passionate,  appeal  to  them 
to  consider  his  proposition  of  March  6. 

It  is  doubtful  if  Mr.  Lincoln  in  all  his  political  career 
ever  had  a  measure  more  at  heart  than  his  scheme  for  com 
pensated  emancipation.  Isaac  Arnold,  who  knew  him  well, 
says  that  rarely,  if  ever,  was  he  known  to  manifest  such 
solicitude  as  over  this  measure. 

"  Oh,  how  I  wish  the  Border  States  would  accept  my 
proposition,"  he  said  to  Arnold  and  Owen  Lovejoy  one 
day;  "  then  you,  Lovejoy,  and  you,  Arnold,  and  all  of  us 
would  not  have  lived  in  vain.  The  labor  of  your  life,  Love- 
joy,  would  be  crowned  with  success.  You  would  live  to  see 
the  end  of  slavery." 

"  Could  you  have  seen  the  President,"  wrote  Sumner  once 
to  a  friend,  "  as  it  was  my  privilege  often — while  he  was 
considering  the  great  questions  on  which  he  has  already 
acted — the  invitation  to  emancipation  in  the  States,  emanci 
pation  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  the  acknowledg 
ment  of  the  independence  of  Haiti  and  Liberia,  even  your 
zeal  would  have  been  satisfied. 

"  His  whole  soul  was  occupied,  especially  by  the  first 
proposition,  which  was  peculiarly  his  own.  In  familiar  in 
tercourse  with  him,  I  remember  nothing  more  touching  than 
the  earnestness  and  completeness  with  which  he  embraced 
this  idea.  To  his  mind  it  was  just  and  beneficent,  while  it 
promised  the  sure  end  of  slavery." 

His  address  to  the  Border  States  representatives  on  July 
12  is  full  of  this  conviction : 

"  I  intend  no  reproach  or  complaint,"  he  said,  "  when  I  as 
sure  you  that,  in  my  opinion,  if  you  all  had  voted  for  the 
resolution  in  the  gradual-emancipation  message  of  last 
March,  the  war  would  now  be  substantially  ended.  And  the 
plan  therein  proposed  is  yet  one  of  the  most  potent  and  swift 
means  of  ending  it.  Let  the  States  which  are  in  rebellion 
see  definitely  and  certainly  that  in  no  event  will  the  States 
you  represent  ever  join  their  proposed  confederacy,  and  they 


LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

cannot  much  longer  maintain  the  contest.  But  you  cannot 
divest  them  of  their  hope  to  ultimately  have  you  with  them 
so  long  as  you  show  a  determination  to  perpetuate  the  in 
stitution  within  your  own  States.  Beat  them  at  elections, 
as  you  have  overwhelmingly  done,  and,  nothing  daunted, 
they  still  claim  you  as  their  own.  You  and  I  know  what  the 
lever  of  their  power  is.  Break  that  lever  before  their  faces, 
and  they  can  shake  you  no  more  forever.  *  *  *  If 
the  war  continues  long,  as  it  must  if  the  object  be  not  sooner 
attained,  the  institution  in  your  States  will  be  extinguished 
by  mere  friction  and  abrasion — by  the  mere  incidents  of 
the  war.  It  will  be  gone,  and  you  will  have  nothing  valuable 
in  lieu  of  it.  Much  of  its  value  is  gone  already.  How  much 
better  for  you  and  for  your  people  to  take  the  step  which  at 
once  shortens  the  war  and  secures  substantial  compensa 
tion  for  that  which  is  sure  to  be  wholly  lost  in  any  other 
event!  *  *  * 

"  I  am  pressed  with  a  difficulty  not  yet  mentioned — one 
which  threatens  division  among  those  who,  united,  are  none 
too  strong.  An  instance  of  it  is  known  to  you.  General 
Hunter  is  an  honest  man.  He  was,  and  I  hope  still  is,  my 
friend.  I  valued  him  none  the  less  for  his  agreeing  with  me 
in  the  general  wish  that  all  men  everywhere  could  be  free. 
He  proclaimed  all  men  free  within  certain  States,  and  I  re 
pudiated  the  proclamation.  He  expected  more  good  and  less 
harm  from  the  measure  than  I  could  believe  would  follow. 
Yet,  in  repudiating  it,  I  gave  dissatisfaction,  if  not  offense, 
to  many  whose  support  the  country  cannot  afford  to  lose. 
And  this  is  not  the  end  of  it.  The  pressure  in  this  direction 
is  still  upon  me,  and  is  increasing.  By  conceding  what  I 
now  ask,  you  can  relieve  me,  and,  much  more,  can  relieve 
the  country,  in  this  important  point.  *  *  *  Our 
common  country  is  in  great  peril,  demanding  the  loftiest 
views  and  boldest  action  to  bring  it  speedy  relief.  Once  re 
lieved,  its  form  of  government  is  saved  to  the  world,  its  be 
loved  history  and  cherished  memories  are  vindicated,  and 
its  happy  future  fully  assured  and  rendered  inconceivably 
grand.  To  you,  more  than  to  any  others,  the  privilege  is 
given  to  assure  that  happiness  and  swell  that  grandeur,  and 
to  link  your  own  names  therewith  forever." 


LINCOLN  AND  EMANCIPATION  113 

The  majority  of  the  Border  States  representatives  re 
jected  the  President's  appeal.  Now  Mr.  Lincoln  never  came 
to  a  point  in  his  public  career  where  he  did  not  have  a  card 
in  reserve,  and  he  never  lacked  the  courage  to  play  it  if  he 
was  forced  to.  "  I  must  save  this  government  if  possible," 
he  said,  now  that  his  best  efforts  for  compensated  emancipa 
tion  were  vain.  "'  What  I  cannot  do,  of  course  I  will  not  do ; 
but  it  may  as  well  be  understood,  once  for  all,  that  I  shall 
not  surrender  this  game  leaving  any  available  card  un- 
played."  Just  what  his  "  available  card  "  was  he  hinted  to 
Secretary  Seward  and  Secretary  Welles  the  very  day  after 
his  interview  with  the  Border  State  representatives.  He  had 
about  come  to  the  conclusion,  he  said,  that  he  must  free  the 
slaves  by  proclamation  or  be  himself  subdued.  "  It  was  a 
new  departure  for  the  President,"  writes  Welles  in  his 
Diary,  "  for  until  this  time,  in  all  our  previous  interviews 
whenever  the  question  of  emancipation  or  the  mitigation  of 
slavery  had  been  in  any  way  alluded  to,  he  had  been  prompt 
and  emphatic  in  denouncing  any  interference  by  the  General 
Government  with  the  institution." 

It  was  probably  very  shortly  after  this  that  a  curious  in 
terview  took  place  between  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  old  and  inti 
mate  friend,  Leonard  Swett,  which  shows  admirably  the 
struggle  in  the  President's  mind.  The  story  of  this  inter 
view  Mr.  Swett  used  to  tell  often  to  his  friends,  and  it  is 
through  the  courtesy  of  one  of  them,  the  Hon.  Peter  Stenger 
Grosscup,  United  States  Circuit  Judge  for  the  Seventh  Ju 
dicial  Circuit,  that  it  is  given  here : 

One  day,  during  the  course  of  the  war,  when  Mr.  Swett 
was  at  his  home  in  Bloomington,  Illinois,  he  received  a  tele 
gram  asking  him  to  come  immediately  to  the  President. 
The  second  morning  afterwards  found  him  in  Washington. 
Thinking  that  something  unusual  was  at  hand,  he  went  to 
the  White  House  upon  arrival  and  before  eating  his  break- 
(8) 


ii4  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

fast.  Mr.  Lincoln  asked  him  immediately  into  the  cabinet 
room,  and  after  making  a  few  inquiries  about  mutual  friends 
in  Illinois,  pulled  up  his  chair  to  a  little  cabinet  of  drawers. 
Swett,  of  course,  awaited  in  silence  the  developments.  Open 
ing  a  drawer,  Lincoln  took  out  a  manuscript  which,  he  said, 
was  a  letter  from  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  and  which  he 
proceeded  to  read.  It  proved  to  be  an  eloquent  and  pas 
sionate  appeal  for  the  immediate  emancipation  of  the  slaves. 
It  recalled  the  devotion  and  loyalty  of  the  North,  but  pointed 
out,  with  something  like  peremptoriness,  that  unless  some 
step  was  taken  to  cut  out  by  the  roots  the  institution  of  slav 
ery,  the  expectations  of  the  North  would  be  disappointed 
and  its  ardor  correspondingly  cooled.  It  went  into  the  moral 
wrong  that  lay  at  the  bottom  of  the  war,  and  insisted  that 
the  war  could  not,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  ended  until  the 
wrong  was  at  an  end.  The  letter  throughout  was  entirely 
characteristic  of  Garrison. 

Laying  it  back  without  comment,  Mr.  Lincoln  took  out 
another,  which  proved  to  be  a  letter  from  Garrett  Davis,  of 
Kentucky.  It,  too,  treated  of  emancipation;  but  from  the 
Border  State  point  of  view.  It  carefully  balanced  the  mar 
tial  and  moral  forces  of  the  North  and  South,  and  pointed 
out  that  if  the  Border  States,  now  divided  almost  equally 
between  the  belligerents,  were  thrown  unitedly  to  the  South, 
a  conclusion  of  the  war  favorable  to  the  North  would  be 
next  to  impossible.  It  then  proceeded  to  recall  that  slavery 
was  an  institution  of  these  Border  States  with  which  their 
people  had  grown  familiar  and  upon  which  much  of  their 
prosperity  was  founded.  Emancipation,  especially  emanci 
pation  without  compensation,  would,  in  that  quarter  of  the 
country,  be  looked  upon  as  a  stab  at  prosperity  and  a  depart 
ure  from  the  original  Union  purposes  of  the  war.  It  beg 
ged  Mr.  Lincoln  to  be  led  by  the  Northern  abolition  senti 
ment  into  no  such  irretrievable  mistake. 

Laying  this  back,  Mr.  Lincoln  took  out  another,  which 
turned  out  to  be  from  a  then  prominent  Swiss  statesman, 
a  sympathizer  with  the  Northern  cause,  but  whose  name  I 
cannot  recall.  It  breathed  all  through  an  ardent  wish  that 
the  North  should  succeed.  The  writer's  purpose  was  to  call 
attention  to  the  foreign  situation  and  the  importance  of  pre- 


LINCOLN  AND  EMANCIPATION  115 

venting  foreign  intervention.  This  he  summed  up  as  fol 
lows  :  The  governing  classes  in  England  and  Napoleon  in 
France  were  favorable  to  the  success  of  the  Confederacy. 
They  were  looking  for  a  pretext  upon  which  to  base  some  sort 
of  intervention.  Anything  that,  in  international  law,  would 
justify  intervention  would  be  quickly  utilized.  A  situation 
justifying  such  a  pretext  must  be  avoided.  The  writer  then 
pointed  out  that  from  the  earliest  times  any  interference  with 
the  enemy's  slaves  had  been  regarded  as  a  cruel  and  improper 
expedient;  that  emancipation  would  be  represented  to 
Europe  as  an  equivalent  of  inciting  slave  insurrection;  and 
would  be  seized  upon,  the  writer  feared,  as  a  pretext  upon 
which  forcibly  to  intervene.  The  letter  went  over  the  whole 
foreign  situation,  bringing  out  clearly  this  phase  of  the  con 
sequences  of  emancipation. 

Laying  this  letter  back,  the  President  turned  to  Mr.  Swett, 
and  without  a  word  of  inquiry,  took  up  himself  the  subject 
of  emancipation,  not  only  in  the  phases  pointed  out  by  the 
letters  just  read,  but  every  possible  phase  and  consequence 
under  which  it  could  be  considered.  For  more  than  an  hour 
he  debated  the  situation,  first  the  one  side  and  then  the 
other  of  every  question  arising.  His  manner  did  not  indi 
cate  that  he  wished  to  impress  his  views  upon  his  hearer, 
but  rather  to  weigh  and  examine  them  for  his  own  enlight 
enment  in  the  presence  of  his  hearer.  It  was  an  instance  of 
stating  conclusions  aloud,  not  that  they  might  convince  an 
other,  or  be  combatted  by  him,  but  that  the  speaker  might  see 
for  himself  how  they  looked  when  taken  out  of  the  region 
of  mere  reflection  and  embodied  in  words.  The  President's 
deliverance  was  so  judicial,  and  so  free  from  the  quality  of 
debate,  or  appearance  of  a  wish  to  convince,  that  Mr.  Swett 
felt  himself  to  be,  not  so  much  a  hearer  of  Lincoln's  views, 
as  a  witness  of  the  President's  mental  operations.  The 
President  was  simply  framing  his  thought  in  words,  under 
the  eye  of  his  friend,  that  he  might  clear  up  his  own  mind. 

When  the  President  concluded,  he  asked  for  no  comment, 
and  made  no  inquiry,  but  rising,  expressed  his  hope  that  Mr. 
Swett  would  get  home  safely,  and  entrusted  to  him  some 
messages  to  their  mutual  friends.  The  audience  thus 
ended. 


Il6  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

Mr.  Lincoln  had,  no  doubt,  determined  at  this  time  on 
the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  perhaps  had  in  his  drawer, 
with  the  letters  he  read  to  Mr.  Swett,  the  original  draft 
which,  as  he  afterwards  told  Mr.  F.  B.  Carpenter,  he  pre 
pared  "  without  consultation  with  or  the  knowledge  of  the 
cabinet."  It  was  on  July  22  that,  "  after  much  anxious 
thought/*  he  called  a  cabinet  meeting  to  consider  the  sub- 
ject. 

"  I  said  to  the  cabinet,"  the  President  told  Mr.  Carpenter, 
"  that  I  had  resolved  upon  this  step,  and  had  not  called  them 
together  to  ask  their  advice,  but  to  lay  the  subject  matter  of 
a  proclamation  before  them ;  suggestions  as  to  which  would 
be  in  order,  after  they  had  heard  it  read." 

The  gist  of  the  proclamation  which  Mr.  Lincoln  read  to 
the  cabinet  was  that,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1863,  all 
persons  held  as  slaves  within  any  State  or  States  wherein 
the  constitutional  authority  of  the  United  States  should  not 
then  be  practically  recognized,  should  "  then,  thenceforward, 
and  forever  be  free."  He  called  his  proclamation  "  a  fit 
and  necessary  military  measure,"  and  prefaced  it  by  declar 
ing  that,  upon  the  next  meeting  of  Congress,  he  intended  to 
recommend  a  practical  plan  for  giving  pecuniary  aid  to  any 
State  which  by  that  time  had  adopted  "  gradual  abolish 
ment  of  slavery." 

The  cabinet  seems  to  have  been  bewildered  by  the  sweep 
ing  proposition  of  the  President.  Nicolay  and  Hay  quote 
a  memorandum  of  the  meeting  made  by  Secretary  Stanton, 
in  which  he  says :  "'  The  measure  goes  beyond  anything  I 
have  recommended."  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  his  account  of  the 
meeting  given  to  Mr.  Carpenter,  says : 

Various  suggestions  were  offered.  .  .  .  Noth 
ing,  however,  was  offered  that  I  had  not  already  fully  an« 


sstanton  Chasa 


President  Lincoln 


FIRST  READING  OF  THE  EMANCIPATION    PROCLAMATION 
From  the  original  painting  by  F.  B.  Carpenter 

The  original  was  painted  in  the  state  dining-room  of  the  White-House  between  February  5  and 
August  1,  1854,  under  the  eye  and  with  the  kindly  help  of  President  Lincoln.  According  to  a  let 
ter  of  Secretary  Chase  to  Mr.  Carpenter,  "Mr.  Lincoln,  before  reading  his  manuscript  of  the 
proclamation,  said,  in  substance:  '1  have  considered  everything  that  has  been  said  to  me  about 
the  expediency  of  emancipation,  and  have  made  up  my  mind  to  issue  this  proclamation,  and  1 
have  invited  you  to  come  together,  not  to  discuss  what  is  to  be  done,  but  to  have  you  hear  what  I 
have  written  and  to  get  your  suggestions  about  form  and  style  ; '  adding :  '  i  have  thought  it  all 
over,  and  have  made  a  promise  that  this  should  be  done  to  myself  and  to  God.' "  Secretary  Chase 
adds :  "  The  picture  well  represents  that  moment  which  followed  the  reading  of  the  proclama 
tion.  It  puts  the  two  members  who  thoroughly  advised  and  heartily  believed  in  the  measure 
on  the  right  of  Mr.  Lincoln  ;  the  others  (who,  though  they  all  acquiesced,  and  Mr.  Seward,  who. 
particularly,  made  important  suggestions,  had  hitherto  doubted  or  advised  delay  or  even  opposed) 
on  the  left." 


Welles 


BEFORE  THE  CABINET,   SEPTEMBER  20,    1862 
now  in  the  Capitol  at  Washington 

Upon  its  completion,  the  painting  was  exhibited  for  two  days  in  the  East  Room  of  the  Whita 
House.  After  having  been  exhibited  through  the  country,  it  was  purchased  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Thompson,  of  New  York,  and  presented  to  the  re-United  States,  Congress  unanimously  accept 
ing  the  gift  and  voting  Mrs.  Thompson  the  "  thanks  of  Congress,"  the  highest  honor  ever  paid  a 
woman  in  our  country,  and  setting  apart  Lincoln's  birthday,  February  12, 1878,  for  the  acceptance 
of  the  painting.  On  that  day  both  houses  of  Congress  adjourned  in  honor  of  the  celebration  ;  tho 
painting  was  elevated  over  the  chair  of  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  ;  Garfield, 
then  a  member  of  Congress,  made  the  speech  of  presentation  on  behalf  of  Mrs.  Thompson,  while 
the  Hon.  Alexander  Stephens,  former  vice-president  of  the  Confederacy,  who,  in  a  famous  speech 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  had  declared,  "  Slavery  is  the  cornerstone  of  the  new  Confederacy," 
made  the  speech  accepting,  on  behalf  of  Congress,  this  painting  which  commemorates  the  abo. 
lition  of  slavery. 


LINCOLN  AND  EMANCIPATION  lij 

ticipated  and  settled  in  my  own  mind,  until  Secretary  Sew- 
ard  spoke.  He  said  in  substance :  "  Mr.  President,  I  ap 
prove  of  the  proclamation,  but  I  question  the  expediency 
of  its  issue  at  this  juncture.  The  depression  of  the  public 
mind,  consequent  upon  our  repeated  reverses,  is  so  great  that 
I  fear  the  effect  of  so  important  a  step.  It  may  be  viewed  as 
the  last  measure  of  an  exhausted  government,  a  cry  for  help ; 
the  government  stretching  forth  its  hands  to  Ethiopia,  in 
stead  of  Ethiopia  stretching  forth  her  hands  to  the  govern 
ment."  His  idea  was  that  it  would  be  considered  our  last 
shriek,  on  the  retreat.  "  Now,"  continued  Mr.  Seward, 
"  while  I  approve  the  measure,  I  suggest,  sir,  that  you  post 
pone  its  issue,  until  you  can  give  it  to  the  country,  supported 
by  military  success,  instead  of  issuing  it,  as  would  be  the 
case  now,  upon  the  greatest  disasters  of  the  war !  "  Th& 
wisdom  of  the  view  of  the  Secretary  of  State  struck  me  with 
very  great  force.  It  was  an  aspect  of  the  case  that,  in  all  my 
thoughts  upon  the  subject,  I  had  entirely  overlooked.  The 
result  was  that  I  put  the  draft  of  the  proclamation  aside,  as 
you  do  your  sketch  for  a  picture,  waiting  for  a  victory.  From 
time  to  time  I  added  or  changed  a  line,  touching  it  up  he/e 
and  there,  anxiously  waiting  the  progress  of  events. 

The  victory  Mr.  Lincoln  waited  for  was  long  in  coming. 
Disaster  after  disaster  followed.  Each  new  delay  or  failure 
only  intensified  the  radical  anti-slavery  sentiment,  and  made 
the  demand  for  emancipation  more  emphatic  and  threaten 
ing.  The  culmination  of  this  dissatisfaction  was  an  editorial 
signed  by  Horace  Greeley,  and  printed  in  the  New  York 
"  Tribune  "  of  August  20,  entitled,  "  The  Prayer  of  20,- 
000,000  " — two  columns  of  bitter  and  unjust  accusations 
and  complaints  addressed  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  charging  him  with 
"  ignoring,  disregarding,  and  defying  "  the  laws  already 
enacted  against  slavery. 

Mr.  Lincoln  answered  it  in  a  letter  published  in  the  "  Na 
tional  Intelligencer"  of  Washington,  August  23.  The 
document  challenges  comparison  with  the  State  papers  of 
all  times  and  all  countries  far  its  lucidity  am!  jts  courage : 


Ii8  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

"  As  to  the  policy  I  '  seem  to  be  pursuing/  as  you  say,  I 
have  not  meant  to  leave  any  one  in  doubt. 

"  I  would  save  the  Union.  I  would  save  it  the  shortest 
way  under  the  Constitution.  The  sooner  the  national  au 
thority  can  be  restored,  the  nearer  the  Union  will  be  '  the 
Union  as  it  was/  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the 
Union  unless  they  could  at  the  same  time  save  slavery,  I  do 
not  agree  with  them.  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save 
the  Union  unless  they  could  at  the  same  time  destroy  slavery, 
I  do  not  agree  with  them.  My  paramount  object  in  this  strug 
gle  is  to  save  the  Union,  and  is  not  either  to  save  or  to  de 
stroy  slavery.  If  I  could  save  the  Union  without  freeing  any 
slave,  I  would  do  it ;  and  if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing  all  the 
slaves,  I  would  do  it;  and  if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing  some 
and  leaving  others  alone,  I  would  also  do  that.  What  I  do 
about  slavery  and  the  colored  race,  I  do  because  I  believe  it 
helps  to  save  the  Union ;  and  what  I  forbear,  I  forbear  be 
cause  I  do  not  believe  it  would  help  to  save  the  Union.  I 
shall  do  less  whenever  I  shall  believe  what  I  am  doing  hurts 
the  cause,  and  I  shall  do  more  whenever  I  shall  believe  doing 
more  will  help  the  cause.  I  shall  try  to  correct  errors  when 
shown  to  be  errors,  and  I  shall  adopt  new  views  so  fast  as 
they  shall  appear  to  be  true  views. 

The  "  Greeley  faction/'  as  it  was  called,  not  only  pursued 
Mr.  Lincoln  through  the  press  and  pulpit  and  platform;  an 
unending  procession  of  radical  committees  and  delegations 
waited  upon  him.  Although  he  was  at  that  time,  by  his  own 
statement,  adding  or  changing  a  line  of  the  proclamation, 
"  touching  it  up  here  and  there,"  he  seems  almost  invariably 
to  have  argued  against  emancipation  with  those  who  came  to 
plead  for  it. 

It  was  only  his  way  of  making  his  own  judgment  surer. 
He  was  not  only  examining  every  possible  reason  for  eman 
cipation;  he  was  steadily  seeking  reasons  against  it.  Per 
haps  the  best  illustration  preserved  to  us  of  this  intellectual 
method  of  Lincoln  is  his  argument  to  a  committee  from  the 


LINCOLN  AND  EMANCIPATION  119 

religious  denominations  of  Chicago,  who  came  to  him  on 
September  1 3 : 

"  What  good  would  a  proclamation  of  emancipation  from 
me  do,  especially  as  we  are  now  situated  ?  I  do  not  want  to 
issue  a  document  that  the  whole  world  will  see  must  neces 
sarily  be  inoperative,  like  the  Pope's  bull  against  the  comet. 
Would  my  word  free  the  slaves,  when  I  cannot  even  enforce 
the  Constitution  in  the  rebel  States  ?  Is  there  a  single  court, 
or  magistrate,  or  individual  that  would  be  influenced  by  it 
there?  And  what  reason  is  there  to  think  it  would  have 
any  greater  effect  upon  the  slaves  than  the  late  law  of  Con 
gress,  which  I  approved,  and  which  offers  protection  and 
freedom  to  the  slaves  of  rebel  masters  who  come  within  our 
lines  ?  Yet  I  cannot  learn  that  that  law  has  caused  a  single 
slave  to  come  over  to  us.  And  suppose  they  could  be  in 
duced  by  a  proclamation  of  freedom  from  me  to  throw 
themselves  upon  us,  what  should  we  do  with  them?  How 
can  we  feed  and  care  for  such  a  multitude?  *  *  If  WQ 
were  to  arm  them,  I  fear  that  in  a  few  weeks  the  arms  would 
be  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels ;  and,  indeed,  thus  far  we  have 
not  had  arms  enough  to  equip  our  white  troops.  I  will  men 
tion  another  thing,  though  it  meets  only  your  scorn  and 
contempt.  There  are  fifty  thousand  bayonets  in  the  Union 
armies  from  the  border  slave  States.  It  would  be  a  serious 
matter  if,  in  consequence  of  a  proclamation  such  as  you  de 
sire,  they  should  go  over  to  the  rebels." 

The  letter  to  Greeley,  the  passages  quoted  above,  show 
how  the  President  was  wrestling  with  the  question.  There 
is  every  indication  indeed  that  an  incessant  struggle  against 
violent  emancipation  went  on  in  his  mind  through  the  whole 
period.  He  regarded  it  as  the  act  of  a  dictator.  He  feared 
it  might  be  fruitless.  He  dreaded  the  injury  it  would  do  the 
loyal  people  of  the  South.  He  said  once  to  a  friend,  that 
he  had  prayed  to  the  Almighty  to  save  him  from  the  neces 
sity  of  it,  adopting  the  very  language  of  Christ,  "  If  it  be 
possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me."  In  talking  to  the 


120  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

Chicago  delegations,  who  argued  that  it  was  God's  will  that 
he  issue  a  proclamation,  he  said : 

"  I  hope  it  will  not  be  irreverent  for  me  to  say  that  if  it 
is  probable  that  God  would  reveal  His  will  to  others  on  a 
point  so  connected  with  my  duty,  it  might  be  supposed  He 
would  reveal  it  directly  to  me;  for  unless  I  am  more  de 
ceived  in  myself  than  I  often  am,  it  is  my  earnest  desire  to 
know  the  will  of  Providence  in  this  matter.  And  if  I  can 
learn  what  it  is,  I  will  do  it.  These  are  not,  however,  the 
days  of  miracles,  and  I  suppose  it  will  be  granted  that  I  am 
not  to  expect  a  direct  revelation.  I  must  study  the  plain 
physical  facts  of  the  case,  ascertain  what  is  possible,  and 
learn  what  appears  to  be  wise  and  right." 

The  victory  for  which  the  President  waited  came  on  Sep 
tember  17.  McClellan  had  followed  Lee  into  Maryland, 
and  defeated  him.  The  President  was  at  his  summer  house 
at  the  Soldier's  Home  when  the  news  of  Antietam  reached 
him.  He  at  once  finished  the  second  draft  of  the  Emancipa 
tion  Proclamation,  and  called  the  cabinet  together  on  Mon 
day,  September  22.  Secretary  Chase  recorded  in  his  diary, 
that  day,  how,  after  reading  his  colleagues  a  chapter  from 
Artemus  Ward,  the  President  "  took  a  graver  tone."  The 
words  he  spoke,  as  recorded  by  Mr.  Chase,  are  a  remarkable 
revelation  of  the  man's  feelings  at  the  moment : 

I  have,  as  you  are  aware,  thought  a  great  deal  about  the 
relation  of  this  war  to  slavery ;  and  you  all  remember  that, 
several  weeks  ago,  I  read  to  you  an  order  I  had  prepared  on 
this  subject,  which,  on  account  of  objections  made  by  some 
of  you,  was  not  issued.  Ever  since  then  my  mind  has  been 
much  occupied  with  this  subject,  and  I  have  thought,  all 
along,  that  the  time  for  acting  on  it  might  probably  come. 
I  think  the  time  has  come  now.  I  wish  it  was  a  better  time. 
I  wish  that  we  were  in  a  better  condition.  The  action  of 
the  army  against  the  rebels  has  not  been  quite  what  I  should 
have  best  liked.  But  they  have  been  driven  out  of  Maryland, 


LINCOLN  AND  EMANCIPATION  121 

and  Pennsylvania  is  no  longer  in  danger  of  invasion.  When 
the  rebel  army  was  at  Frederick,  I  determined,  as  soon  as 
it  should  be  driven  out  of  Maryland,  to  issue  a  proclama 
tion  of  emancipation,  such  as  I  thought  m(  st  likely  to  be 
useful.  I  said  nothing  to  any  one,  but  I  made  the  promise 
to  myself  and  [hesitating  a  little]  to  my  Maker.  The  rebel 
army  is  now  driven  out,  and  I  am  going  to  fulfil  that  prom 
ise.  I  have  got  you  together  to  hear  what  I  have  written 
down.  I  do  not  wish  your  advice  about  the  main  matter,  for 
that  I  have  determined  for  myself.  This,  I  say  without  in 
tending  anything  but  respect  for  any  one  of  you.  But  I  al 
ready  know  the  views  of  each  on  this  question.  They  have 
been  heretofore  expressed,  and  I  have  considered  them  as 
thoroughly  and  carefully  as  I  can.  What  I  have  written  is 
that  which  my  reflections  have  determined  me  to  say.  If 
there  is  anything  in  the  expressions  I  use,  or  in  any  minor 
matter,  which  any  of  you  thinks  had  best  be  changed,  I  shall 
be  glad  to  receive  the  suggestions.  One  other  observation 
I  will  make.  I  know  very  well  that  many  others  might,  in 
this  matter  as  in  others,  do  better  than  I  can ;  and  if  I  was 
satisfied  that  the  public  confidence  was  more  fully  possessed 
by  any  one  of  them  than  by  me,  and  knew  of  any  constitu 
tional  way  in  which  he  could  be  put  in  my  place,  he  should 
have  it.  I  would  gladly  yield  it  to  him.  But,  though  I  believe 
that  I  have  not  so  much  of  the  confidence  of  the  people  as  I 
had  some  time  since,  I  do  not  know  that,  all  things  consid 
ered,  any  other  person  has  more ;  and,  however  this  may  be, 
there  is  no  way  in  which  I  can  have  any  other  man  put  where 
I  am.  I  am  here ;  I  must  do  the  best  I  can,  and  bear  the  re 
sponsibility  of  taking  the  course  which  I  feel  I  ought  to  take. 

The  proclamation  appeared  in  the  newspapers  of  the  fol 
lowing  morning.  One  substantial  addition  had  been  made 
to  the  document  since  July  22.  It  now  declared  that  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  would  M  recognize  and 
maintain  "  the  freedom  of  the  persons  set  at  liberty. 

There  was  no  exultation  in  the  President's  mind;  indeed 
there  was  almost  a  groan  in  the  words  which,  the  night 
after  he  had  given  it  out,  he  addressed  to  a  party  of  sere- 


122  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

naders,  "  I  can  only  trust  in  God  that  I  have  made  no 
mistake."  The  events  of  the  fall  brought  him  little  en 
couragement.  Indeed,  the  promise  of  emancipation  seemed 
to  effect  nothing  but  discontent  and  uneasiness ;  stocks  went 
down,  troops  fell  off.  In  five  great  States — Indiana,  Illinois, 
Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  York — the  elections  went 
against  him.  Little  but  menaces  came  from  Europe.  Many 
said  that  the  President  would  not  dare,  in  the  face  of  the  un 
rest  of  the  country,  fulfil  his  promise,  and  issue  the  procla 
mation.  But  when  Congress  opened  on  December  i,  he 
did  submit  the  proclamation,  together  with  the  plan  for 
compensated  emancipation  which  he  had  wrorked  out.  Over 
one-half  of  the  message,  in  fact,  was  given  to  this  plan. 
f  Mr.  Lincoln  pleaded  with  Congress  for  his  measure  as 
he  had  never  pleaded  before.  He  argued  that  it  would  "  end 
the  struggle  and  save  the  Union  forever,"  that  it  would 
"  cost  no  blood  at  all/'  that  Congress  could  do  it  if  they 
would  unite  with  the  executive,  that  the  "  good  people  " 
would  respond  and  support  it  if  appealed  to. 

"  It  is  not/'  he  said,  "  "  Can  any  of  us  imagine  better? ' 
but/  Can  we  all  do  better?'  Object  whatsoever  is  possible, 
still  the  question  occurs,  '  Can  we  do  better  ?  '  The  dogmas 
of  the  quiet  past  are  inadequate  to  the  stormy  present.  The 
occasion  is  piled  high  with  difficulty,  and  we  must  rise  with 
the  occasion.  As  our  case  is  new,  so  we  must  think  anew 
and  act  anew.  We  must  disenthrall  ourselves,  and  then  we 
shall  save  our  country. 

"  Fellow  citizens,  we  cannot  escape  history.  We  of  this 
Congress  and  this  Administration  will  be  remembered  in 
spite  of  ourselves.  No  personal  significance  or  insignifi 
cance  can  spare  one  or  another  of  us.  The  fiery  trial  through 
which  we  pass  will  light  us  down,  in  honor  or  dishonor,  to 
the  latest  generation.  We  say  we  are  for  the  Union.  The 
world  will  not  forget  that  we  say  this.  We  know  how  to 
save  the  Union.  The  world  knows  we  do  know  how  to  save 
it.  We — even  we  here — hold  the  power  «id  bear  the  re- 


LINCOLN  AND  EMANCIPATION  123 

sponsibility.  In  giving  freedom  to  the  slave,  we  assure  free 
dom  to  the  free — honorable  alike  in  what  we  give  and  what 
we  preserve.  We  shall  nobly  save  or  meanly  lose  the  last, 
best  hope  of  earth.  Other  means  may  succeed;  this  could 
not  fail.  The  way  is  plain,  peaceful,  generous,  just — a  way 
which,  if  followed,  the  world  will  forever  applaud,  and  God 
must  forever  bless/' 

As  the  ist  of  January  drew  near,  many  friends  of  the 
proclamation  doubted  that  Mr.  Lincoln  would  keep  his 
promise.  Among  these  was  the  Rev.  Byron  Sunderland, 
of  Washington,  at  that  time  chaplain  of  the  Senate  and  one 
of  the  most  aggressively  loyal  ministers  in  the  city.  Dr. 
Sunderland  feared  that  there  was  truth  in  the  rumor  that  the 
President  would  withdraw,  not  issue,  the  proclamation  on 
the  ist  of  January,  and  on  the  Sunday  before  the  New  Year 
he  preached  a  sermon  on  the  subject.  Mr.  Z.  S.  Robbins,  of 
Washington,  a  friend  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  asked  Dr.  Sunderland 
to  go  with  him  to  the  President  and  urge  him  to  keep  his 
promise. 

"  We  were  ushered  into  the  cabinet  room,"  says  Dr.  Sun 
derland.  "  It  was  very  dim,  but  one  gas-jet  burning.  As 
we  entered,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  standing  at  the  farther  end  of 
the  long  table  which  filled  the  middle  of  the  room.  As  I 
stood  by  the  door,  I  am  so  very  short,  that  I  was  obliged  to 
look  up  to  see  the  President.  Mr.  Robbins  introduced  me, 
and  I  began  at  once  by  saying :  '  I  have  come,  Mr.  President, 
to  anticipate  the  New  Year  with  my  respects,  and  if  I  may, 
to  say  to  you  a  word  about  the  serious  condition  of  this 
country/ 

'  Go  ahead,  Doctor/  replied  the  President ;  '  every  little 
helps.'  But  I  was  too  much  in  earnest  to  laugh  at  his  sally 
at  my  smallness.  *  Mr.  President/  I  continued,  *  they  say 
that  you  are  not  going  to  keep  your  promise  to  give  us  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation;  that  it  is  your  intention  to 
withdraw  it/ 


124  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

"  '  Well,  Doctor,'  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  '  you  know  Peter  was 
going  to  do  it,  but  when  the  time  came  he  didn't/ 

"  *'  Mr.  President,'  I  continued,  *  I  have  been  studying 
Peter.  He  did  not  deny  his  Master  until  after  his  Master 
rebuked  him  in  the  presence  of  the  enemy.  You  have  a  mas 
ter,  too,  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  American  people.  Don't  deny 
your  master  until  he  has  rebuked  you  before  all  the  world/ 

"  My  earnestness  seemed  to  interest  the  President,  and 
his  whole  tone  changed  immediately.  '  Sit  down,  Doctor 
Sunderland,'  he  said ;  '  let  us  talk/ 

"  We  seated  ourselves  in  the  room,  and  for  a  moment  the 
President  was  silent,  his  elbow  resting  on  the  table,  his  big, 
gnarled  hands  closed  over  his  forehead.  Then  looking  up 
gravely  at  me,  he  began  to  speak : 

"  *  Doctor,  if  it  had  been  left  to  you  and  me,  there  would 
have  been  no  war.  If  it  had  been  left  to  you  and  me,  there 
would  have  been  no  cause  for  this  war ;  but  it  was  not  left  to 
us.  God  has  allowed  men  to  make  slaves  of  their  fellows. 
He  permits  this  war.  He  has  before  Him  a  strange  specta 
cle.  We,  on  our  side,  are  praying  Him  to  give  us  victory, 
because  we  believe  we  are  right ;  but  those  on  the  other  side 
pray  Him,  too,  for  victory,  believing  they  are  right.  What 
must  He  think  of  us  ?  And  what  is  coming  from  the  strug 
gle?  What  will  be  the  effect  of  it  all  on  the  whites  and  on 
the  negroes  ?  '  And  then  suddenly  a  ripple  of  amusement 
broke  the  solemn  tone  of  his  voice.  '  As  for  the  negroes, 
Doctor,  and  what  is  going  to  become  of  them :  I  told  Ben 
Wade  the  other  day,  that  it  made  me  think  of  a  story  I  read 
in  one  of  my  first  books,  "  yEsop's  Fables."  It  was  an  old 
edition,  and  had  curious  rough  wood-cuts,  one  of  which 
showed  four  white  men  scrubbing  a  negro  in  a  potash  kettle 
filled  with  cold  water.  The  text  explained  that  the  men 
thought  that  by  scrubbing  the  negro  they  might  make  him 
white.  Just  about  the  time  they  thought  they  were  succeed 
ing,  he  took  cold  and  died.  Now,  I  am  afraid  that  by  the 
time  we  get  through  this  war  the  negro  will  catch  cold  and 
die/ 

''  The  laugh  had  hardly  died  away  before  he  resumed  his 
grave  tone,  and  for  half  an  hour  he  discussed  the  question  of 
emancipation.  He  stated  it  in  every  light,  putting  his  points 


LINCOLN  AND  EMANCIPATION  125 

so  clearly  that  each  statement  was  an  argument.  He  showed 
the  fullest  appreciation  of  every  side.  It  was  like  a  talk  of 
one  of  the  old  prophets.  And  though  he  did  not  tell  me  at 
the  end  whether  the  proclamation  would  be  issued  or  not,  I 
went  home  comforted  and  uplifted,  and  I  believed  in  Abra 
ham  Lincoln  from  that  day." 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  no  idea  of  withdrawing  the  proclama 
tion.  On  December  30,  he  read  the  document  to  his  cabi 
net,  and  asked  the  members  to  take  copies  home  and  give 
him  their  criticisms.  The  next  day  at  cabinet  meeting  these 
criticisms  and  suggestions  were  presented  by  the  different 
members,  Mr.  Lincoln  took  them  all  to  his  office,  where, 
during  that  afternoon  and  the  morning  of  January  I,  1863, 
he  rewrote  the  document.  He  was  called  from  it  at  eleven 
o'clock  to  go  to  the  East  Room  and  begin  the  customary 
New  Year's  handshaking.  It  was  the  middle  of  the  after 
noon  before  he  was  free  and  back  in  the  executive  chamber, 
where  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  which  in  the  inter 
val  had  been  duly  engrossed  at  the  State  Department  and 
brought  to  the  White  House  by  Secretary  Seward  and  his 
son,  was  waiting  his  signature. 

"  They  found  the  President  alone  in  his  room,"  writes 
Frederick  Seward.  "  The  broad  sheet  was  spread  out  be 
fore  him  on  the  cabinet  table.  Mr.  Lincoln  dipped  his  pen  in 
the  ink,  and  then,  holding  it  a  moment  above  the  paper, 
seemed  to  hesitate.  Looking  around,  he  said : 

'  I  never,  in  my  life,  felt  more  certain  that  I  was  doing 
right,  than  I  do  in  signing  this  paper.  But  I  have  been  re 
ceiving  calls,  and  shaking  hands  since  nine  [eleven  ?]  o'clock 
this  morning,  till  my  arm  is  stiff  and  numb.  Now,  this  sig 
nature  is  one  that  will  be  closely  examined,  and  if  they  find 
my  hand  trembled,  they  will  say  "  he  had  some  compunc 
tions."  But,  any  way,  it  is  going  to  be  done! ' 

"  So  saying,  he  slowly  and  carefully  wrote  his  name  at  the 
bottom  of  the  proclamation." 


126  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

At  last  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  was  a  fact.  But 
there  was  little  rejoicing  in  the  heart  of  the  man  who  had 
framed  and  given  it  to  the  world.  In  issuing  it,  all  he  had 
dared  hope  was  that  in  the  long  run  it  would  give  greater 
gain  than  loss.  He  was  not  confident  that  this  would  be  so, 
but  he  was  willing  to  risk  it.  "  Hope  and  fear  and  doubt  con 
tended  over  the  new  policy  in  uncertain  conflict,"  he  said 
months  later.  As  he  had  foreseen,  dark  days  followed. 
There  were  mutinies  in  the  army;  there  was  ridicule;  there 
was  a  long  interval  of  waiting  for  results.  Nothing  but  the 
greatest  care  in  enforcing  the  proclamation  could  make  it 
a  greater  good  than  evil,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  now  turned  all  his 
energies  to  this  new  task.  "  We  are  like  whalers,"  he  said 
one  day,  "  who  have  been  long  on  a  chase ;  we  have  at  last 
got  the  harpoon  into  the  monster,  but  we  must  now  look  how 
we  steer,  or  with  one  '  flop  '  of  his  tail  he  will  send  us  all  into 
eternity." 


CHAPTER  XXVI 
LINCOLN'S  SEARCH  FOR  A  GENERAL 

THE  failure  of  McClellan  in  the  Peninsular  Campaign  not 
only  forced  the  emancipation  proclamation  from  Lincoln,  it 
set  him  to  working  on  a  fresh  set  of  military  problems.  The 
most  important  of  these  was  a  search  for  a  competent  gen- 
eral-in-chief  for  the  armies  of  the  United  States.  As  has 
already  been  noted  General  McClellan  had  been  appointed 
general-in-chief  in  July,  1861,  after  the  first  battle  of  Bull 
Run.  A  few  months'  experience  had  demonstrated  to  the 
Administration  that  able  as  McClellan  was  in  forming  an 
army  and  inspiring  his  soldiers,  he  lacked  the  ability  to  di 
rect  a  great  concerted  movement  extending  over  so  long  a 
line  as  that  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic.  In  March 
when  he  took  the  field  at  the  head  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  the  President  relieved  him  from  the  command  of 
all  military  departments  except  that  of  the  Department  of 
the  Potomac.  From  March  to  July,  1862,  Lincoln  had  no 
general-in-chief.  He  felt  so  keenly  his  need  of  an  ex 
perienced  military  counsellor  that  towards  the  end  of  June 
he  made  a  hurried  and  secret  visit  to  General  Scott,  who 
since  he  had  been  superseded  by  McClellan  had  been  in  re 
tirement. 

One  result  of  his  visit  to  McClellan  at  Harrison's  Landing 
in  July  was  to  fix  Lincoln's  determination  to  have  in  Wash 
ington  a  general-in-chief  of  all  the  armies  who  could  supple 
ment  his  own  meagre  knowledge  of  military  matters,  and 
who  could  aid  him  in  forming  judgments.  He  knew  that  in 
the  campaign  against  Richmond  he  had,  at  more  than  one 

127 


128  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

critical  moment,  made  decisions  which  were  contrary  lo  Mc- 
Clellan's  plans.  He  knew  that  McClellan  claimed  that  these 
decisions  had  caused  his  failure.  He  had  acted  to  the  best  of 
his  judgment  in  every  case,  but  he  undoubtedly  felt  the  dan 
ger  in  a  civilian's  taking  such  a  responsibility.  He  wanted  a 
man  at  his  side  whom  he  believed  was  wiser  than  he  in  these 
matters.  So  far  the  war  had  brought  out  but  one  man  who 
seemed  to  him  at  all  fit  for  this  work,  Major-General  H.  W. 
Halleck,  the  commander  of  the  Department  of  the  Missis 
sippi.  On  his  return  to  Washington  from  his  visit  to  Mc 
Clellan,  almost  the  first  act  of  the  President  was  to  summon 
Halleck  to  Washington  as  general-in-chief.  Halleck  was  a 
West  Point  man  highly  regarded  by  General  Scott,  who 
had  been  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  Department  of  the 
West  after  Fremont's  failure  there.  He  had  shown  such 
vigor  in  his  field  in  the  winter  of  i86i-'62,  that  in  March, 
when  McClellan  was  relieved  of  the  position  of  general-in- 
chief,  a  new  department  including  all  the  Mississippi  region 
west  of  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  was  given  to  Halleck.  Since 
that  time  he  had  succeeded  in  opening  the  Mississippi  with 
the  aid  of  the  gunboats  as  far  south  as  Memphis. 

Halleck  was  appointed  on  July  n,  and  soon  after  his  ar 
rival  in  Washington  he  went  to  Harrison's  Landing  to  look 
over  McClellan's  situation.  He  found  McClellan  determined 
to  make  another  attack  on  Richmond  after  he  received  re- 
enforcements.  Halleck  disapproved  of  the  idea.  He  be 
lieved  that  McClellan  should  return  to  the  Potomac  and 
unite  with  the  new  army  of  Virginia  which  had  just  been 
formed  of  the  troops  around  Washington  and  placed  under 
the  direction  of  General  John  Pope,  another  product  of  the 
Mississippi  campaign,  from  whom  the  President  hoped 
great  things. 

McClellan  persistently  fought  this  plan  and  his  removal 
was  seriously  discussed  at  this  time.  _The  great  body  of  the 


LINCOLN'S  SEARCH  FOR  A  GENERAL      129 

Republican  party  indeed  demanded  it.  Many  did  not  hesi 
tate  to  say  that  McClellan  was  a  traitor  only  waiting  the 
proper  opportunity  to  surrender  his  army  to  the  enemy — an 
accusation  which  never  had  other  foundation  than  McClel- 
lan's  obstinacy  and  procrastination.  Lincoln  would  not  re 
lieve  him.  He  believed  him  loyal.  He  knew  that  no  man 
could  be  better  loved  by  his  soldiers  or  more  capable 
of  putting  an  army  into  form.  He  had  no  one  to  put 
in  his  place.  There  was  a  political  reason,  too;  McClellan 
was  a  Democrat.  The  party  took  his  view  of  the  disastrous 
Peninsular  campaign — that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  not  supported 
him.  To  remove  him  was  to  arouse  bitter  Democratic  oppo 
sition  and  so  to  decrease  the  support  of  the  Union  cause  and 
at  this  juncture  to  hold  as  solid  a  North  as  possible  to  the 
war  was  quite  as  imperative  as  to  win  a  battle. 

Lincoln  would  not  relieve  McClellan,  but  he  sanctioned 
the  plan  for  a  change  of  base  from  the  James  to  the  Potomac 
and  early  in  August,  McClellan  was  ordered  to  move  his 
army.  He  continued  to  struggle  against  the  movement,  be 
lieving  he  could,  if  re-enforced,  capture  Richmond,  and  when 
forced  to  yield  he  had  made  the  movement  with  delay  and  ill- 
humor.  The  withdrawal  of  McClellan  freed  Lee's  army,  and 
the  Confederate  general  marched  quickly  northward  against 
the  Army  of  Virginia  under  General  Pope.  On  August  30, 
Lee  defeated  Pope  in  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run — a  de 
feat  scarcely  less  discouraging  to  the  Federals  than  the  first 
Bull  Run  had  been,  and  one  that  caused  almost  as  great  a 
panic  at  Washington.  Pope  was  defeated,  the  country  gener 
ally  believed,  because  McClellan,  who  was  hardly  twenty 
miles  away,  did  not,  in  spite  of  orders,  do  anything  to  relieve 
him.  It  seemed  to  Lincoln  that  McClellan  even  wanted  Pope 
to  fail.  The  indignation  of  the  Secretary  of  Wir  and  of  the 
majority  of  the  members  of  the  cabinet  was  so  great  against 
McClellan  that  a  protest  against  keeping  him  any  longer  in 
(9) 


130  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

command  of  any  force  was  written  by  Stanton  and  signed 
by  three  of  his  colleagues.  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  the  pri 
vate  secretary  of  Stanton,  first  published  this  protest  in  the 
Washington  "  Evening  Star,"  March  18,  1893.  Mr.  John 
son  says  that  the  President  thought  it  unwise  to  publish  the 
document  that  Mr.  Stanton  had  prepared ;  but  he  consented 
that  the  following  protest  should  be  signed  and  handed  to 
him  as  a  substitute.  The  understanding  of  the  cabinet  mem 
bers  interested  was  that  this  revised  protest  should  go  to  the 
country.  Mr.  Johnson  believes  that  Mr.  Lincoln  himself 
wrote  this  protest ;  at  all  events,  he  is  certain  that  the  Presi 
dent  consented  to  it. 

The  undersigned,  who  have  been  honored  with  your  se 
lection  as  part  of  your  confidential  advisers,  deeply  im 
pressed  with  our  great  responsibility  in  the  present  crisis,  do 
but  perform  a  painful  duty  in  declaring  to  you  our  deliberate 
opinion  that  at  this  time  it  is  not  safe  to  intrust  to  Major- 
General  McClellan  the  command  of  any  army  of  the  United 
States.  And  we  hold  ourselves  ready  at  any  time  to  explain 
to  you  in  detail  the  reasons  upon  which  this  opinion  is  based. 

In  spite  of  this  evident  sympathy  of  Lincoln  with  the  in 
dignation  against  McClellan,  on  September  2  he  placed  that 
general  in  command  of  all  the  troops  around  Washington. 
Probably  no  act  of  his  ever  angered  the  Secretary  of  War  so 
thoroughly.  A  large  part  of  the  North,  too,  was  indignant. 
A  general  cry  went  up  to  the  President  for  a  new  leader. 

Lincoln  only  showed  again  in  this  determined  and  bitterly 
criticised  action  his  courage  in  acting  in  a  crisis  according 
to  his  own  judgment.  The  army  under  Pope  was  demoral 
ized.  Washington  was,  perhaps,  in  danger.  The  defeat  had 
robbed  Pope  of  confidence.  Halleck,  worn  out  with  fatigue 
and  anxiety,  was  beseeching  McClellan  to  come  to  his 
relief.  There  was  no  other  general  in  the  army  who  could 
so  quickly  "  lick  the  troops  into  shape,"  as  Lincoln  put 


LINCOLN'S  SEARCH  FOR  A  GENERAL      131 

it,  and  man  the  fortifications  around  the  city.  He  made  the 
order,  and  McClellan  entirely  justified  the  President's  faith 
in  him.  He  did  put  the  army  into  form,  and  was  able  to  fol 
low  at  once  after  Lee,  who  was  making  for  Maryland  and 
Pennsylvania.  Overtaking  Lee  at  Antietam,  north  of  the 
Potomac,  McClellan  defeated  him  on  September  17.  But 
to  Lincoln's  utter  despair,  he  failed  to  follow  up  his  victory 
and  allowed  Lee  to  get  back  south  of  the  Potomac  river; 
nor  would  he  follow  him,  in  spite  of  Lincoln's  reiterated  urg 
ing.  It  was  this  failure  to  move  McClellan's  army  from 
camp  that  sent  Lincoln  to  visit  him  early  in  October.  He 
would  find  out  the  actual  condition  of  the  army;  see  if,  as 
McClellan  complained,  it  lacked  "  everything  "  and  needed 
rest.  He  found  McClellan  with  over  100,000  men  around 
him ;  two  days  of  his  visit  he  spent  in  the  saddle  reviewing 
this  force.  He  visited  the  hospitals,  talked  with  the  men,  in 
terviewed  the  generals,  saw  everything.  What  his  opinion  of 
the  ability  of  the  army  to  do  something  was,  is  evident  from 
an  order  sent  McClellan  the  day  after  he  returned  to  Wash 
ington  :  "  The  President  directs  that  you  cross  the  Potomac 
and  give  battle  to  the  enemy  or  drive  him  south."  This  was 
on  October  6.  A  week  later,  McClellan  being  still  in  camp, 
Mr.  Lincoln  wrote  him  the  following  letter : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  October  13,  1862. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MCCLELLAN. 

My  Dear  Sir:  You  remember  my  speaking  to  you  of  what 
I  called  your  over-cautiousness.  Are  you  not  over-cautious 
when  you  assume  that  you  cannot  do  what  the  enemy  is  con 
stantly  doing  ?  Should  you  not  claim  to  be  at  least  his  equal 
in  prowess,  and  act  upon  the  claim?  As  I  understand,  you 
telegraphed  General  Halleck  that  you  cannot  subsist  your 
army  at  Winchester  unless  the  railroad  from  Harper's  Ferry 


132  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

to  that  point  be  put  in  working  order.  But  the  enemy  does 
now  subsist  his  army  at  Winchester,  at  a  distance  nearly  twice 
as  great  from  railroad  transportation  as  you  would  have  to 
do  without  the  railroad  last  named.  He  now  wagons  from 
Culpepper  Court  House,  which  is  just  about  twice  as  far  as 
you  would  have  to  do  from  Harper's  Ferry.  He  is  certainly 
not  more  than  half  as  well  provided  with  wagons  as  you  are. 
I  certainly  should  be  pleased  for  you  to  have  the  advantage 
of  the  railroad  from  Harper's  Ferry  to  Winchester,  but  it 
wastes  all  the  remainder  of  autumn  to  give  it  to  you,  and,  in 
fact,  ignores  the  question  of  time,  which  cannot  and  must 
not  be  ignored.  Again,  one  of  the  standard  maxims  of  war, 
as  you  know,  is  to  "  operate  upon  the  enemy's  communica 
tions  as  much  as  possible  without  exposing  your  own."  You 
seem  to  act  as  if  this  applies  against  you,  but  cannot  apply  in 
your  favor.  Change  positions  with  the  enemy,  and  think 
you  not  he  would  break  your  communication  with  Richmond 
within  the  next  twenty- four  hours?  .  .  . 

If  he  should  move  northward,  I  would  followr  him  closely, 
holding  his  communications.  If  he  should  prevent  our  seiz 
ing  his  communications,  and  move  toward  Richmond,  I 
would  press  closely  to  him,  fight  him,  if  a  favorable  opportu 
nity  should  present,  and  at  least  try  to  beat  him  to  Richmond 
on  the  inside  track.  I  say  "  try ;  "  if  we  never  try,  we  shall 
never  succeed.  If  he  makes  a  stand  at  Winchester,  moving 
neither  north  nor  south,  I  would  fight  him  there,  on  the  idea 
that  if  we  cannot  beat  him  when  he  bears  the  wastage  of 
coming  to  us,  we  never  can  when  we  bear  the  wastage  of 
going  to  him.  This  proposition  is  a  simple  truth,  and  is  too 
important  to  be  lost  sight  of  for  a  moment.  In  coming  to 
us  he  tenders  us  an  advantage  which  we  should  not  waive. 
We  should  not  so  operate  as  to  merely  drive  him  away.  As 
we  must  beat  him  somewhere  or  fail  finally,  we  can  do  it,  if 
at  all,  easier  near  to  us  than  far  away.  If  we  cannot  beat  the 
enemy  where  he  now  is,  we  never  can,  he  again  being  within 
the  intrenchments  of  Richmond.  .  .  . 

This  patient,  sensible  letter  had  no  effect  on  McClellan. 
Now,  forbearing  as  Lincoln  was  as  a  rule,  he  could  lose  his 
patience  in  a  way  which  it  does  one  good  to  see.  He  lost  it  a 


LINCOLN'S  SEARCH  FOR  A  GENERAL      133 

few  days  later,  when  McClellan  gave  as  a  reason  for  inaction 
that  his  cavalry  horses  had  sore  tongues. 

"  I  have  just  read  your  dispatch  about  sore-tongued  and 
fatigued  horses/'  Lincoln  telegraphed.  "  Will  you  pardon 
me  for  asking  what  the  horses  of  your  army  have  done  since 
the  battle  of  Antietam  that  fatigues  anything  ?  " 

Yet  even  for  this  telegram  he  half  apologized  two  days 
later : 

Most  certainly  I  intend  no  injustice  to  any,  and  if  I  have 
done  any  I  deeply  regret  it.  To  be  told,  after  more  than  five 
weeks'  total  inaction  of  the  army,  and  during  which  period 
we  have  sent  to  the  army  every  fresh  horse  we  possibly 
could,  amounting  in  the  whole  to  7,918,  that  the  cavalry 
horses  were  too  much  fatigued  to  move,  presents  a  very 
cheerless,  almost  hopeless,  prospect  for  the  future,  and  it 
may  have  forced  something  of  impatience  in  my  dispatch. 

On  the  first  day  of  November,  McClellan  crossed  the  Po 
tomac  ;  but  four  days  later  the  President,  acting  on  a  curious, 
half-superstitious  ultimatum  which  he  had  laid  down  for  his 
own  guidance,  removed  the  General.  He  had  decided,  Mr. 
Hay  heard  him  say,  that  if  McClellan  permitted  Lee  to  cross 
the  Blue  Ridge  and  place  himself  between  Richmond  and  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  there  would  be  a  change  in  generals. 
Four  days  later  Lee  did  this  very  thing,  and  Lincoln,  un 
moved  by  the  fact  that  McClellan  had  at  last  begun  the 
movement  south,  kept  the  compact  with  himself. 

But  who  should  be  asked  to  take  the  command  of  the 
army?  There  was  no  man  whose  achievements  made  him 
pre-eminent — no  one  whom  the  country  demanded  as  it  had 
Fremont  and  McClellan.  The  choice  seemed  to  be  confined 
to  the  corps  commanders  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and 
General  Ambrose  Burnside  was  ordered  to  relieve  McClel 
lan.  Lincoln  had  been  watching  Burnside  closely  for  many 


134  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

months.  Indeed,  he  had  already  twice  asked  him  to  talce  the 
command,  but  Burnside,  believing  in  McClellan  and  mis 
trusting  his  own  fitness,  had  refused. 

With  an  anxious  heart  the  President  watched  the  new 
commander  as  he  followed  Lee  into  Virginia  and  took  a  po 
sition  north  of  the  Rappahannock,  facing  Lee,  who  was  now 
at  Fredericksburg,  on  the  south  of  the  river.  Burnside  at 
once  made  ready  for  battle  and  Lincoln  wanting  as  al 
ways  to  see  with  his  own  eyes  the  army's  condition,  went 
down  the  Potomac  on  November  27  to  Acquia  Creek,  where 
Burnside  met  him  and  explained  his  plan.  The  President 
thought  it  risky  and  in  a  letter  to  Halleck  suggested  a  less 
hazardous  substitute.  Both  Burnside  and  Halleck  objected 
however  and  the  President  yielded. 

Burnside  began  his  movement  on  December  9.  During 
the  loth,  nth,  I2th,  and  i.3th,  the  President  studied  intently 
the  yellow-tissue  telegrams  in  his  drawer  at  the  telegraph 
office,  telling  where  troops  were  crossing  the  river  and  what 
positions  had  been  gained.  At  half-past  four  o'clock  on  the 
morning  of  the  I4th,  a  message  was  received  saying  that  the 
troops  were  all  over  the  river — "  loss,  5,000."  This  meant 
that  the  final  struggle  was  at  hand.  About  eight  o'clock  that 
morning,  Mr.  Lincoln  appeared  at  the  telegraph  office  of  the 
War  Department  in  dressing-gown  and  carpet  slippers.  Mr. 
Rosewater,  the  present  editor  of  the  Omaha  "  Bee,"  was  re 
ceiving  messages,  and  he  says  that  the  President  did  not  leave 
the  room  until  night.  Secretary  Stan  ton,  Major  Eckert,  and 
Captain  Fox  were  the  only  other  persons  present,  as  he  re 
members.  The  excitement  and  suspense  were  too  great  for 
any  one  to  eat,  and  it  was  not  until  evening  that  the  Secre 
tary  sent  out  for  food  for  the  watchers.  All  day  the  I5th  the 
anxiety  lasted;  then,  at  a  quarter  past  four  o'clock  on  the 
morning  of  the  1 6th,  came  news  of  a  retreat.  "  I  have 
thought  it  necessary,"  telegraphed  Burnside  from  the  north 


LINCOLN'S  SEARCH  FOR  A  GENERAL      135 

of  the  Rappahannock,  "  to  withdraw  the  army  to  this  side  of 
the  river."  Slowly  the  dreadful  returns  came  in — over 
10,000  men  dead  and  wounded,  2,000  more  missing.  The 
government  did  its  utmost  to  conceal  the  disaster,  but  gradu 
ally  it  came  out  and  again  the  heart-sick  country  heaped  its 
anger  on  the  President. 

Lincoln's  faith  in  Burnside  was  sorely  tried  by  the  battle 
of  Fredericksburg.  Reports  which  soon  came  to  him  of  the 
discouragement  of  the  army,  and  the  disaffection  of  the 
corps  commanders,  alarmed  him  still  further,  and  he  refused, 
without  Halleck's  consent,  to  allow  Burnside  to  make  a  new 
movement  which  the  latter  had  planned.  But  Halleck  de 
clined,  at  this  critical  moment,  to  accept  the  responsibilities 
of  his  position  as  General-in-Chief  and  to  give  a  decision. 
Lincoln  felt  his  desertion  deeply. 

"  If  in  such  a  difficulty  as  this,"  he  wrote  Halleck,  "  you 
do  not  help,  you  fail  me  precisely  in  the  point  for  which  I 
sought  your  assistance.  You  know  what  General  Burnside's 
plan  is,  and  it  is  my  wish  that  you  go  with  him  to  the  ground, 
examine  it  as  far  as  practicable,  confer  with  the  officers,  get 
ting  their  judgment  and  ascertaining  their  temper — in  a 
word,  gather  all  the  elements  for  forming  a  judgment  of 
your  own,  and  then  tell  General  Burnside  that  you  do  ap 
prove  or  that  you  do  not  approve  his  plan.  Your  military 
skill  is  useless  to  me  if  you  will  not  do  this." 

The  passing  weeks  only  added  to  the  disorganization  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  on  January  25  the  Presi 
dent  ordered  General  Joseph  Hooker  to  relieve  General 
Burnside.  Stanton  and  Halleck  were  not  satisfied  with  the 
selection.  They  wanted  the  next  experiment  tried  on  a 
Western  general  who  was  promising  well,  General  W.  S. 
Rosecrans.  That  Lincoln  himself  saw  danger  in  the  ap 
pointment  is  evident  from  the  letter  he  wrote  to  General 
Hooker : 


136  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

General:  I  have  placed  you  at  the  head  of  the  Army  of  ;he 
Potomac.  Of  course  I  have  done  this  upon  what  appear  to 
me  to  be  sufficient  reasons,  and  yet  I  think  it  best  for  you  to 
know  that  there  are  some  things  in  regard  to  which  I  am  not 
quite  satisfied  with  you.  I  believe  you  to  be  a  brave  and  skill 
ful  soldier,  which  of  course  I  like.  I  also  believe  you  do  not 
mix  politics  with  your  profession,  in  which  you  are  right. 
You  have  confidence  in  yourself,  which  is  a  valuable  if  not  an 
indispensable  quality.  You  are  ambitious,  which,  within  rea 
sonable  bounds,  does  good  rather  than  harm ;  but  I  think  that 
during  General  Burnside's  command  of  the  army  you  have 
taken  counsel  of  your  ambition  and  thwarted  him  as  much  as 
you  could,  in  which  you  did  a  great  wrong  to  the  country, 
and  to  a  most  meritorious  and  honorable  brother  officer.  I 
have  heard,  in  such  a  way  as  to  believe  it,  of  your  recently 
saying  that  both  the  army  and  the  government  needed  a  dic 
tator.  Of  course  it  was  not  for  this,  but  in  spite  of  it,  that  I 
have  given  you  the  command.  Only  those  generals  who  gain 
successes  can  set  up  dictators.  What  I  now  ask  of  you  is 
military  success,  and  I  will  risk  the  dictatorship.  The  gov 
ernment  will  support  you  to  the  utmost  of  its  ability,  which 
is  neither  more  nor  less  than  it  has  done  and  will  do  for  all 
commanders.  I  much  fear  that  the  spirit  which  you  have 
aided  to  infuse  into  the  army,  of  criticising  their  commander 
and  withholding  confidence  from  him,  will  now  turn  upon 
you.  I  shall  assist  you  as  far  as  I  can  to  put  it  down.  Neither 
you  nor  Napoleon,  if  he  were  alive  again,  could  get  any  good 
out  of  an  army  while  such  a  spirit  prevails  in  it ;  and  now  be 
ware  of  rashness.  Beware  of  rashness,  but  with  energy  and 
sleepless  vigilance  go  forward  and  give  us  victories.  Yours 
very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

Hooker  had  a  manly  heart,  and  the  President's  words  ap 
pealed  to  the  best  that  was  in  him.  Noah  Brooks  tells  how 
he  heard  the  General  read  the  letter  soon  after  its  receipt. 
"  He  finished  reading  it,"  writes  Mr.  Brooks,  "  almost  with 
tears  in  his  eyes ;  and  as  he  folded  it  and  put  it  back  in  the 
breast  of  his  coat,  he  said,  '  That  is  just  such  a  letter  as  a 
father  might  write  to  a  son.  It  is  a  beautiful  letter,  and  al- 


LINCOLN'S  SEARCH  FOR  A  GENERAL      137 

though  I  think  he  was  harder  on  me  than  I  deserved,  I  will 
say  that  I  love  the  man  who  wrote  it. ' 

By  the  first  of  April,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  been 
put  into  splendid  form  by  General  Hooker.  An  advance 
against  the  enemy,  still  entrenched  at  Fredericksburg,  where 
Burnside  had  engaged  him,  was  contemplated,  but  prior  to 
the  battle  a  grand  review  of  the  troops  before  the  President 
was  planned.  It  was  on  Saturday,  April  4,  that  Lincoln 
left  Washington,  by  a  river  steamer,  for  Hooker's  headquar 
ters  at  Falmouth,  Virginia.  A  great  snow-storm  began  that 
night,  and  it  was  with  serious  delay  and  discomfort  that  the 
review  was  conducted.  Difficult  as  it  was,  the  President  was 
indefatigable  in  his  efforts  to  see  all  the  army,  to  talk  with 
every  officer,  to  shake  hands  with  as  many  men  as  possible. 
A  strange  foreboding  seemed  to  possess  him.  Hooker's  con 
fident  assurance,  "  I  am  going  straight  to  Richmond,  if  I 
live,"  filled  him  with  dread.  "  It's  about  the  worst  thing  I 
have  seen  since  I  have  been  down  here,"  he  told  Noah 
Brooks,  who  was  one  of  the  party.  When  he  watched  the 
splendid  column  of  that  vast  army  of  a  hundred  thousand, 
there  was  no  rejoicing  in  his  face.  The  defeats  of  two  years, 
the  angry  clamor  of  an  unhappy  North,  the  dead  of  a  dozen 
battle-fields,  seemed  written  there  instead.  So  haggard  was 
his  countenance  that  even  the  men  in  the  line  noticed  it.  Ira 
Seymour  Dodd,  in  one  of  his  graphic  Civil  War  stories,  has 
described  this  very  review,  and  he  tells  how  he  and  his  com 
rades  were  almost  awe-stricken  by  the  glimpse  they  caught 
of  the  President's  face : 

As  we  neared  the  reviewing-stand,  the  tall  figure  of  Lin 
coln  loomed  up.  He  was  on  horseback,  and  his  severely 
plain,  black  citizen's  dress  set  him  in  bold  relief  against  the 
crowd  of  generals  in  full  uniform  grouped  behind  him.  Dis 
tinguished  men  were  among  them ;  but  we  had  no  eyes  save 
for  our  revered  President,  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 


138  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

army,  the  brother  of  every  soldier,  the  great  leader  of  a 
nation  in  its  hour  of  trial.  There  was  no  time  save  for  a 
marching  salute ;  the  occasion  called  for  no  cheers.  Self-ex 
amination,  not  glorification,  had  brought  the  army  and  its 
chief  together.  But  we  passed  close  to  him,  so  that  he  could 
look  into  our  faces  and  we  into  his. 

None  of  us  to  our  dying  day  can  forget  that  countenance ! 
From  its  presence  we  marched  directly  onward  toward  our 
camp,  and  as  soon  as  "'  route  step  "  was  ordered  and  the  men 
were  free  to  talk,  they  spoke  thus  to  each  other :  "  Did  you 
ever  see  such  a  look  on  any  man's  face  ?  "  "  He  is  bearing 
the  burdens  of  the  nation."  "  It  is  an  awful  load ;  it  is  killing 
him."  "  Yes,  that  is  so ;  he  is  not  long  for  this  world !  " 

Concentrated  in  that  one  great,  strong  yet  tender  face,  the 
agony  of  the  life  or  death  struggle  of  the  hour  was  revealed 
as  we  had  never  seen  it  before.  With  new  understanding  we 
knew  why  we  were  soldiers. 

A  day  later  Lincoln  left  the  army,  but  before  going  he  said 
to  Hooker  and  his  generals,  "  Gentlemen,  in  your  next  battle 
put  in  all  your  men."  The  next  battle  occurred  on  May  i, 
2,  3,  and  4.  Over  37,000  men  were  left  out  of  the  fight, 
and  on  May  5  the  army  again  withdrew  north  of  the  Po 
tomac.  The  news  of  the  retreat  reached  the  President  soon 
after  noon  of  May  6. 

"About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,"  says  Noah 
Brooks,  "  The  door  opened,  and  Lincoln  came  into  the  room. 
I  shall  never  forget  that  picture  of  despair.  He  held  a  tele 
gram  in  his  hand,  and  as  he  closed  the  door  and  came  toward 
us,  I  mechanically  noticed  that  his  face,  usually  sallow,  was 
ashen  in  hue.  The  paper  on  the  wall  behind  him  was  of  the 
tint  knowu  as  '  French  gray/  and  even  in  that  moment  of 
sorrow  and  dread  expectation  I  vaguely  took  in  the  thought 
that  the  complexion  of  the  anguished  President's  visage  was 
almost  exactly  like  that  of  the  wall.  He  gave  me  the  tele 
gram,  and  in  a  voice  trembling  with  emotion,  said,  '  Read  it 
• — news  from  the  army/  The  despatch  was  from  General 
Butterfield,  Hooker's  chief  of  staff,  addressed  to  the  War 


LINCOLN'S  SEARCH  FOR  A  GENERAL      139 

Department,  and  was  to  the  effect  that  the  army  had  been 
withdrawn  from  the  south  side  of  the  Rappahannock,  and 
was  then  '  safely  encamped  '  in  its  former  position.  The  ap 
pearance  of  the  President,  as  I  read  aloud  these  fateful 
words,  was  piteous.  Never,  as  long  as  I  knew  him,  did  he 
seem  to  be  so  broken  up,  so  dispirited,  and  so  ghostlike. 
Clasping  his  hands  behind  his  back,  he  walked  up  and  down 
the  room,  saying,  '  My  God,  my  God,  what  will  the  country 
say !  What  will  the  country  say ! ' 

This  consternation  was  soon  mastered.  Lincoln's  almost 
superhuman  faculty  of  putting  disaster  behind  him  and  turn 
ing  his  whole  force  to  the  needs  of  the  moment  came  to  his 
aid.  Ordering  a  steamer  to  be  ready  at  the  wharf,  he  sum 
moned  Halleck,  and  at  four  o'clock  the  two  men  were  on 
their  way  to  Hooker's  headquarters.  The  next  day,  the 
President  had  the  situation  in  hand,  and  was  planning  the 
next  move  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

The  country  could  not  rally  so  quickly  from  the  blow  of 
Chancellorsville.  From  every  side  came  again  the  despair 
ing  cry,  "  Abraham  Lincoln,  give  us  a  man !  "  But  Lincoln 
had  no  man  of  whom  he  felt  surer  than  he  did  of  Hooker, 
and  for  two  months  longer  he  tried  to  sustain  that  General. 
A  fundamental  difficulty  existed,  however — what  Lincoln 
called  a  "  family  quarrel  " — an  antagonism  between  Halleck 
and  Hooker,  which  caused  constant  friction.  Since  the  be 
ginning  of  the  war,  Lincoln  had  been  annoyed,  his  plans 
thwarted,  the  cause  crippled,  by  the  jealousies  and  animosi 
ties  of  men.  So  far  as  possible  the  President  tried  to  keep  out 
of  these  complications.  "  I  have  too  many  family  controver 
sies,  so  to  speak,  already  on  my  hands,  to  voluntarily,  or  so 
long  as  I  can  avoid  it,  take  up  another,"  he  wrote  to  General 
McClernand  once.  "  You  are  now  doing  well — well  for  the 
country,  and  well  for  yourself — much  better  than  you  could 
possibly  be  if  engaged  in  open  war  with  General  Halleck/' 
But  his  letters  and  telegrams  show  how,  in  spite  of  himself, 


140  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

he  was  continually  running  athwart  somebody's  prejudice  or 
dislike. 

The  trouble  between  Halleck  and  Hooker  reached  a  cli 
max  at  a  critical  moment.  On  June  3,  Lee  had  slipped  from 
his  position  on  the  Rappahannock  and  started  north.  Hooker 
had  followed  him  with  great  skill.  Both  armies  were  well 
north  of  the  Potomac,  and  a  battle  was  imminent  when,  on 
June  27,  angered  by  Halleck' s  refusal  of  a  request,  Hooker 
resigned. 

During  the  days  when  Hooker  was  chasing  Lee  north 
ward,  the  President  had  spent  much  of  his  time  in  his  room 
at  the  telegraph  office.  Mr.  Chandler,  who  was  on  duty  there, 
relates  that  one  of  his  most  constant  inquiries  was  about  the 
Fifth  Corps,  under  General  Meade.  "Where's  Meade?" 
"  What's  the  Fifth  Corps  doing?  "  he  was  asking  constantly. 
He  had  seen,  no  doubt,  that  he  might  be  obliged  to  displace 
Hooker,  and  was  observing  the  man  whom  he  had  in  mind 
for  the  position.  At  all  events,  it  was  Meade  whom  he  now 
ordered  to  take  charge  of  the  army. 

The  days  following  were  ones  of  terrible  suspense  at 
Washington.  The  North,  panic-stricken  by  the  Southern  in 
vasion,  was  clamoring  at  the  President  for  a  hundred  things. 
Among  other  demands  was  a  strongly  supported  one  for  the 
recall  of  McClellan.  Col.  A.  K.  McClure,  of  Philadelphia, 
who,  among  others,  urged  Lincoln  to  restore  McClellan, 
says  in  a  letter  to  the  writer : 

When  Lee's  army  entered  Pennsylvania  in  June,  1863, 
there  was  general  consternation  throughout  the  State.  The 
Army  of  the  Potomac  was  believed  to  be  very  much  demor 
alized  by  the  defeat  of  Chancellorsville,  by  want  of  confi 
dence  in  Hooker  as  commander,  and  by  the  apprehension 
that  any  of  the  corps  commanders,  called  suddenly  to  lead 
the  army  just  on  the  eve  of  the  greatest  battle  of  the  war, 
would  not  inspire  the  trust  of  the  soldiers.  The  friends  of 
General  McClellan  believed  that  he  could  best  defend  the 


LINCOLN'S  SEARCH  FOR  A  GENERAL      141 

State.  He  was  admittedly  the  best  organizer  in  our  entire 
army,  and  preeminently  equipped  as  a  defensive  officer,  and 
they  assumed  that  his  restoration  to  the  command  would 
bring  in  immense  Democratic  support  to  the  Administra 
tion. 

Lincoln's  view  of  the  matter  is  fully  shown  by  the  tele 
gram  which  he  sent  in  reply  to  the  one  from  Colonel  Mc- 
Clure  urging  McClellan's  appointment 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  June  30,  1863. 

A.  K.  McCLURE,  Philadelphia : 

Do  we  gain  anything  by  opening  one  leak  to  stop  another  ? 
Do  we  gain  anything  by  quieting  one  clamor  merely  to  open 
another,  and  probably  a  larger  one  ?  A.  LINCOLN. 

Three  days  after  his  appointment,  Meade  met  Lee  at  Get 
tysburg,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  after  three  days  of  hard  fight 
ing  defeated  him.  During  these  three  terrible  days — the 
ist,  2d,  and  3d  of  July — Mr.  Lincoln  spent  most  of  his  time 
in  the  telegraph  office. 

"  He  read  every  telegram  with  the  greatest  eagerness," 
says  Mr.  Chandler,  "  and  frequently  was  so  anxious  that  he 
would  rise  from  his  seat  and  come  around  and  lean  over  my 
shoulder  while  I  was  translating  the  cipher.  After  the  bat 
tle  of  Gettysburg,  the  President  urged  Meade  to  pursue  Lee 
and  engage  him  before  he  should  cross  the  Potomac.  His 
anxiety  seemed  as  great  as  it  had  been  during  the  battle 
itself,  and  now,  as  then,  he  walked  up  and  down  the  floor, 
his  face  grave  and  anxious,  wringing  his  hands  and  showing 
every  sign  of  deep  solicitude.  As  the  telegrams  came  in,  he 
traced  the  positions  of  the  two  armies  on  the  map,  and 
several  times  called  me  up  to  point  out  their  location, 
seeming  to  feel  the  need  of  talking  to  some  one.  Finally,  a 
telegram  came  from  Meade  saying  that  under  such  and  such 
circumstances  he  would  engage  the  enemy  at  such  and  such 


LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

a  time.  '  Yes,'  said  the  President  bitterly,  *  he  will  be  ready 
to  fight  a  magnificent  battle  when  there  is  no  enemy  there  to 
fight  !'"* 

Perhaps  Lincoln  never  had  a  harder  struggle  to  do  what 
he  thought  to  be  just  than  he  did  after  Meade  allowed  Lee  to 
escape  across  the  Potomac.  He  seems  to  have  entertained 
a  suspicion  that  the  General  wanted  Lee  to  get  away,  for  in  a 
telegram  to  Simon  Cameron,  on  July  15,  he  says:  "I 
would  give  much  to  be  relieved  of  the  impression  that 
Meade,  Couch,  Smith,  and  all,  since  the  battle  at  Gettysburg, 
have  striven  only  to  get  Lee  over  the  river  without  another 
fight."  The  day  before,  he  wrote  Meade  a  letter  in  which  he 
put  frankly  all  his  discontent : 

.  .  .  .  My  dear  General,  I  do  not  believe  you  appreci 
ate  the  magnitude  of  the  misfortune  involved  in  Lee's  es 
cape.  He  was  within  your  easy  grasp,  and  to  have  closed 
upon  him  would,  in  connection  with  our  other  late  successes, 
have  ended  the  war.  As  it  is,  the  war  will  be  prolonged  in 
definitely.  If  you  could  not  safely  attack  Lee  last  Monday, 
how  can  you  possibly  do  so  south  of  the  river,  when  you  can 
take  with  you  very  few  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  force 
you  then  had  in  hand?  It  would  be  unreasonable  to  expect 
and  I  do  not  expect  that  you  can  now  effect  much.  Your 
golden  opportunity  is  gone,  and  I  am  distressed  immeasur 
ably  because  of  it. 

I  beg  you  will  not  consider  this  a  prosecution  or  persecu 
tion  of  yourself.  As  you  had  learned  that  I  was  dissatisfied, 
I  have  thought  it  best  to  kindly  tell  you  why.* 

He  never  sent  the  letter.  Thinking  it  over,  in  his  dispas 
sionate  way,  he  evidently  concluded  that  it  would  not  repair 
the  misfortune  and  that  it  might  dishearten  the  General.  He 
smothered  his  regret,  and  went  on  patiently  and  loyally  for 
many  months  in  the  support  of  his  latest  experiment. 

But  while  in  the  East  the  President  had  been  experiment- 

*Abraham  Lincoln.    A  History.     By  Nicolay  and  Hay. 


GRAND  REVIEW  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE   POTOMAC   BY    PRESIDENT 
General  Joseph  Hooker  hid  now  bee  a  ia  command  of  the  army  since 


LINCOLN,  AT  FALMOUTH,   VA.,   IN   APRIL,    1863 
January  25, 1863,  and  had  brought  it  into  "  splendid  form 


LINCOLN'S  SEARCH  FOR  A  GENERAL       143 

ing  with  men,  in  the  West  a  man  had  been  painfully  and  si 
lently  making  himself.  His  name  was  Ulysses  S.  Grant 
The  President  had  known  nothing  of  his  coming  into  the 
army.  No  political  party  had  demanded  him ;  indeed  he  had 
found  it  difficult  at  first,  West  Point  graduate  though  he  was 
and  great  as  the  need  of  trained  service  was,  to  secure  the 
lowest  appointment.  He  had  taken  what  he  could  get,  how 
ever,  and  from  the  start  he  had  always  done  promptly  the 
thing  asked  of  him ;  more  than  that,  he  seemed  always  to  be 
looking  for  things  to  do.  It  was  these  habits  of  his  that 
brought  him  at  last,  in  February  of  1862,  to  the  command  of 
a  movement  in  which  Lincoln  was  deeply  interested.  This 
was  the  capture  of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Tennessee  river.  "  Our  success  or  failure  at 
Fort  Donelson  is  vastly  important,  and  I  beg  you  to  put 
your  soul  in  the  effort,"  Lincoln  wrote  on  February  16  to 
Halleck  and  Buell,  then  in  command  of  Missouri  and  Ten 
nessee.  While  the  President  was  writing  his  letters,  Grant, 
in  front  of  Fort  Donelson,  was  writing  a  note  to  the 
Confederate  commander,  who  had  asked  for  terms  of  capitu 
lation  :  "  No  terms  except  unconditional  and  immediate  sur 
render  can  be  accepted.  I  propose  to  move  immediately  on 
your  works."  To  the  harrassed  President  at  Washington 
these  words  must  have  been  like  a  war-cry.  He  had  spent 
the  winter  in  a  vain  effort  to  inspire  his  supposed  great  gen 
erals  with  the  very  spirit  breathed  in  the  words  and  deeds  of 
this  unknown  officer  in  the  West. 

Grant  was  now  made  a  major-general,  and  entrusted  with 
larger  things.  He  always  brought  about  results ;  but  in  spite 
of  this,  the  President  saw  there  was  much  opposition  to  him. 
For  a  long  period  he  was  in  partial  disgrace;  but  Lincoln 
must  have  noticed  that  while  many  other  generals,  whose 
achievements  were  less  than  Grant's,  complained  loudly  ar.d 
incessantly  at  reprimands — "  snubbing,"  the  President 


144  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

called  it — Grant  said  nothing.  He  stayed  at  his  post  dog 
gedly,  working  his  way  inch  by  inch  down  the  Mississippi. 

Finally,  in  July,  1862,  when  General  Halleck  was  called 
to  Washington  as  General-in-Chief,  Grant  was  put  at  the 
head  of  the  armies  of  the  West.  There  was  much  opposition 
to  him.  Men  came  to  the  President  urging  his  removal.  Lin 
coln  shook  his  head.  "  I  can't  spare  this  man,"  he  said;  "  he 
•fights."  Many  good  people  complained  that  he  drank.  "  Can 
you  tell  me  the  kind  of  whisky?  "  asked  Lincoln,  "  I  should 
like  to  send  a  barrel  to  some  of  my  other  generals." 

Nevertheless,  the  President  grew  anxious  as  the  months 
went  on.  The  opening  of  the  Mississippi  was,  after  the  cap 
ture  of  Richmond,  the  most  important  task  of  the  war.  The 
wrong  man  there  was  only  second  in  harm  to  the  wrong  man 
on  the  Potomac.  Was  Grant  a  "  wrong  man  ?  "  Little  could 
be  told  from  his  telegrams  and  letters.  "'  General  Grant  is  a 
copious  worker  and  fighter,"  said  Lincoln  later,  "  but  he  is 
a  very  meager  writer  or  telegrapher."  Finally,  the  Presi 
dent  and  the  Secretary  of  War  sent  for  a  brilliant  and  loyal 
newspaper  man,  Charles  A.  Dana,  and  asked  him  to  go  to 
Grant's  army,  "  to  act  as  the  eyes  of  the  Government  at 
the  front,"  said  the  President.  His  real  mission  was  to  find 
out  for  them  what  kind  of  a  man  Grant  was.  Dana's  letters 
soon  showed  Lincoln  that  Grant  was  a  general  that  nothing 
could  turn  from  a  purpose.  That  was  enough  for  the  Presi 
dent.  He  let  him  alone,  and  watched.  When,  finally,  Vicks- 
burg  was  captured,  he  wrote  him  the  following  letter — it 
may  be  called  his  first  recognition  of  the  General : 

WASHINGTON,  July  13,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  GRANT. 

My  Dear  General:  I  do  not  remember  that  you  and  I  ever 
met  personally.  I  write  this  now  as  a  grateful  acknowledg 
ment  for  the  almost  inestimable  service  you  have  done  the 
country.  I  wish  to  say  a  word  further.  When  yotf  firct 


LINCOLN'S  SEARCH  FOR  A  GENERAL      145 

reached  the  vicinity  of  Vicksburg,  I  thought  you  should  do 
what  you  finally  did — march  the  troops  across  the  neck,  run 
the  batteries  with  the  transports,  and  thus  go  below ;  and  I 
never  had  any  faith,  except  a  general  hope  that  you  knew 
better  than  I,  that  the  Yazoo  Pass  expedition  and  the  like 
could  succeed.  When  you  got  below  and  took  Port  Gibson, 
Grand  Gulf,  and  vicinity,  I  thought  you  should  go  down  the 
river  and  join  General  Banks,  and  when  you  turned  north 
ward,  east  of  the  Big  Black,  I  feared  it  was  a  mistake.  I  now 
wish  to  make  the  personal  acknowledgment  that  you  were 
right  and  I  was  wrong.  Yours  very  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

Grant  was  busy  with  new  movements  before  this  letter 
reached  him;  indeed,  as  soon  as  Vicksburg  capitulated,  he 
had  begun  getting  ready  to  do  something  else.  So  occupied 
was  he  that  he  did  not  even  take  time  to  write  his  plans  to 
the  Government,  asking  Mr.  Dana  to  do  it  for  him. 

Three  and  a  half  months  later,  after  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland  had  been  defeated  at  Chickamauga  and  had  re 
tired  into  Chattanooga,  Grant  was  called  to  its  relief.  In  a 
month  the  Confederates  were  driven  from  their  positions 
on  the  ridges  above  him  and  East  Tennessee  was  saved. 
There  was  no  longer  in  Lincoln's  mind  a  doubt  that  at  last 
he  had  found  the  man  he  wanted.  In  the  winter  following, 
'63  and  '64,  after  much  discussion  Congress  revived  the 
grade  of  lieutenant-general  in  the  army  purposely  for 
Grant's  benefit  and  on  February  29,  Lincoln  nominated  the 
general  to  the  rank.  He  proceeded  at  once  to  Washington, 
where  on  March  9  the  President  and  the  General  met  for  the 
first  time.  What  did  the  President  want  him  to  do,  Grant 
asked.  Take  Richmond  was  the  President's  reply,  could  he 
do  it?  If  he  had  the  troops  Grant  answered.  The  President 
promised  them.  Two  months  later  Grant  had  re-organized 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  had  started  at  its  head  for  the 
final  march  to  Richmond. 

(10) 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

LINCOLN  AND  THE  SOLDIERS 

ANOTHER  serious  problem  which  the  failure  of  the  Penin 
sular  campaign  thrust  on  the  President  was  where  to  get 
troops  for  a  renewal  of  the  war.  When  one  recalls  the  eager 
ness  with  which  men  rushed  into  arms  at  the  opening  of  the 
Civil  war,  it  seems  as  if  President  Lincoln  should  never  have 
had  anxiety  about  filling  the  ranks  of  the  army.  For 
the  first  year,  indeed,  it  gave  him  little  concern.  So  promptly 
were  the  calls  of  1861  answered  that  in  the  spring  of  1862 
an  army  of  637,126  men  was  in  service.  It  was  believed  that 
with  this  force  the  war  could  be  ended,  and  in  April  recruit 
ing  was  stopped.  It  was  a  grave  mistake.  Before  the  end  of 
May,  the  losses  and  discouragements  of  the  Peninsular  cam 
paign  made  it  necessary  to  re-enforce  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac.  More  men  were  needed,  in  fact,  all  along  the  line. 
Lincoln  saw  that,  rather  than  an  army  of  600,000  men,  he 
should  have  one  of  a  million,  and,  July  2,  he  issued  a  call 
for  300,000  men  for  three  years,  and  August  4  an  order 
was  issued  for  a  draft  of  300,000  more  for  nine  months. 

By  the  end  of  1862,  nearly  one  and  a  half  million  men  had 
been  enrolled  in  the  army.  Nevertheless,  the  "  strength  of 
the  army  "  at  that  time  was  counted  at  but  918,000.  What 
had  become  of  the  half  million  and  more?  Nearly  100,000 
of  them  had  been  killed  or  totally  disabled  on  the  battlefield ; 
200,000  more,  perhaps,  had  fallen  out  in  the  seasoning  pro 
cess.  Passed  by  careless  medical  examiners,  the  first  five- 
mile  march,  the  first  week  of  camp  life,  had  brought  out 
some  physical  weakness  which  made  soldiering  out  of  the 

T46 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  SOLDIERS  147 

question.  The  rest  of  the  loss  was  in  three-months',  six- 
months',  or  nine-months'  men.  They  had  enlisted  for  these 
short  periods,  and  their  terms  up,  they  had  left  the  army. 

Moreover,  the  President  had  learned  by  this  time  that, 
even  when  the  Secretary  of  War  told  him  that  the  "  strength 
of  the  army  "  was  918,000,  it  did  not  by  any  means  follow 
that  there  were  that  number  of  men  present  for  duty.  Expe 
rience  had  taught  him  that  about  one-fourth  of  the  reputed 
"'  strength  "  must  be  allowed  for  shrinkage;  that  is,  for  men 
in  hospitals,  men  on  furloughs,  men  who  had  deserted.  He 
had  learned  that  this  enormous  wastage  went  on  steadily.  It 
followed  that,  if  the  army  was  to  be  kept  up  to  the  million- 
men  mark,  recruiting  must  be  as  steady  as,  and  in  proportion 
to,  the  shrinkage. 

Recruiting,  so  easy  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  had  be 
come  by  1862  quite  a  different  matter.  Patriotism,  love  of 
adventure,  excitement  could  no  longer  be  counted  on  to  fill 
the  ranks.  It  was  plain  to  the  President  that  hereafter,  if 
he  was  to  have  the  men  he  needed,  military  service  must  be 
compulsory.  Nothing  could  have  been  devised  which  would 
have  created  a  louder  uproar  in  the  North  than  the  sugges 
tion  of  a  draft.  All  through  the  winter  of  1862-63,  Congress 
wrangled  over  the  bill  ordering  it,  much  of  the  press  in  the 
meantime  denouncing  it  as  "  despotic  "  and  "  contrary  to 
American  institutions."  The  bill  passed,  however,  and  the 
President  signed  it  in  March,  1863.  At  once  there  was  put 
into  operation  a  huge  new  military  machine,  the  Bureau  of 
the  Provost-Marshal-General,  which  had  for  its  business  the 
enrollment  of  all  the  men  in  the  United  States  whom  the  new 
law  considered  capable  of  bearing  arms  and  the  drafting 
enough  of  them  to  fill  up  the  quota  assigned  to  each  State. 
This  bureau  was  also  to  look  after  deserters. 

A  whole  series  of  new  problems  was  thrust  on  the  Presi 
dent  when  the  Bureau  of  the  Provost-Marshal-General  came 


148  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

into  being.  The  quotas  assigned  the  States  led  to  endless 
disputes  between  the  governors  and  the  War  Department; 
the  drafts  caused  riots;  an  inferior  kind  of  soldier  was  ob 
tained  by  drafting,  and  deserters  increased.  Lincoln  shirked 
none  of  these  new  cares.  He  was  determined  that  the  effi 
ciency  of  the  war  engine  should  be  kept  up,  and  nobody  in 
the  Government  studied  more  closely  how  this  was  to  be 
done,  or  insisted  more  vigorously  on  the  full  execution  of 
the  law.  In  assigning  the  quotas  to  the  different  States,  cer 
tain  credits  were  made  of  men  who  had  enlisted  previously. 
Many  disputes  arose  over  the  credits  and  assignments, 
some  of  them  most  perplexing.  Ultimately  most  of  these 
reached  the  President.  The  draft  bore  heavily  on  districts 
where  the  percentage  of  death  among  the  first  volunteers  had 
been  large,  and  often  urgent  pleas  were  made-  to  the  Presi 
dent  to  release  a  city  or  county  from  the  quota  assigned.  The 
late  Joseph  Medill,  the  editor  of  the  Chicago  "  Tribune," 
once  told  me  how  he  and  certain  leading  citizens  of  Chicago 
went  to  Lincoln  to  ask  that  the  quota  of  Cook  County  be  re 
duced. 

"  In  1864,  when  the  call  for  extra  *iOops  came,  Chicago 
revolted,"  said  Mr.  Medill.  "  She  had  already  sent  22,000 
men  up  to  that  time,  and  was  drained.  When  the  new  call 
came,  there  were  no  young  men  to  go — no  aliens  except 
what  were  bought.  The  citizens  held  a  mass  meeting,  and 
appointed  three  persons,  of  whom  I  was  one,  to  go  to  Wash 
ington  and  ask  Stanton  to  give  Cook  County  a  new  enroll 
ment.  I  begged  off;  but  the  committee  insisted,  so  I  went. 
On  reaching  Washington,  we  went  to  Stanton  with  our 
statement.  He  refused  entirely  to  give  us  the  desired  aid. 
Then  we  went  to  Lincoln.  '  I  cannot  do  it/  he  said,  *  but  I 
will  go  with  you  to  Stanton  and  hear  the  arguments  of  both 
sides.'  So  we  all  went  over  to  the  War  Department  together. 
Stanton  and  General  Frye  were  there,  and  they,  of  course, 
contended  that  the  quota  should  not  be  changed.  The  argu 
ment  went  on  for  some  time,  and  finally  was  referred  to  Lin- 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  SOLDIERS  149 

coin,  who  had  been  sitting  silently  listening.  I  shall  never 
forget  how  he  suddenly  lifted  his  head  and  turned  on  us  a 
black  and  frowning  face. 

"  '  Gentlemen/  he  said,  in  a  voice  full  of  bitterness,  '  after 
Boston,  Chicago  has  been  the  chief  instrument  in  bringing 
this  war  on  the  country.  The  Northwest  has  opposed  the 
South  as  New  England  has  opposed  the  South.  It  is  you 
who  are  largely  responsible  for  making  blood  flow  as  it  has. 
You  called  for  war  until  we  had  it.  You  called  for  Emanci 
pation,  and  I  have  given  it  to  you.  Whatever  you  have  asked 
you  have  had.  Now  you  come  here  begging  to  be  let  off 
from  the  call  for  men  which  I  have  made  to  carry  out  the 
war  you  have  demanded.  You  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  your 
selves.  I  have  a  right  to  expect  better  things  of  you.  Go 
home,  and  raise  your  6,000  extra  men.  And  you,  Medill, 
you  are  acting  like  a  coward.  You  and  your  '  Tribune  '  have 
had  more  influence  than  any  paper  in  the  Northwest  in  mak 
ing  this  war.  You  can  influence  great  masses,  and  yet  you 
cry  to  be  spared  at  a  moment  when  your  cause  is  suffering. 
Go  home  and  send  us  those  men/ 

"  I  couldn't  say  anything.  It  was  the  first  time  I  ever  was 
whipped,  and  I  didn't  have  an  answer.  We  all  got  up  and 
went  out,  and  when  the  door  closed,  one  of  my  colleagues 
said :  '  Well,  gentlemen,  the  old  man  is  right.  We  ought  to 
be  ashamed  of  ourselves.  Let  us  never  say  anything  about 
this,  but  go  home  and  raise  the  men/  And  we  did — 6,000 
men — making  28,000  in  the  war  from  a  city  of  156,000.  But 
there  might  have  been  crape  on  every  door  almost  in  Chi 
cago,  for  every  family  had  lost  a  son  or  a  husband.  I  lost  two 
brothers.  It  was  hard  for  the  mothers."* 

Severe  as  Lincoln  could  be  with  any  disposition  to  shirk 
what  he  considered  a  just  and  necessary  demand,  strenu 
ously  as  he  insisted  that  the  ranks  must  be  kept  full,  he  never 
came  to  regard  the  army  as  a  mere  machine,  never  forgot  the 
individual  men  who  made  it  up.  Indeed,  he  was  the  one  man 

*  These  notes  were  made  immediately  after  an  interview  given  me  by 
Mr.  Medill  in  June,  1895.  They  were  to  be  corrected  before  publication, 
but  Mr.  Medill's  death  occurred  before  they  were  in  type,  so  that  the 
account  was  never  seen  by  him* 


150  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

in  the  Government  who,  from  first  to  last,  was  big  enough  to 
use  both  his  head  and  his  heart.  From  the  outset,  he  was  the 
personal  friend  of  every  soldier  he  sent  to  the  front  and 
somehow  every  man  seemed  to  know  it.  No  doubt,  it  was  on 
Lincoln's  visits  to  the  camps  around  Washington,  in  the 
early  days  of  the  war,  that  the  body  of  the  soldiers  got  this 
idea.  They  never  forgot  his  friendly  hand-clasp,  his  hearty 
"  God  bless  you,"  his  remonstrance  against  the  youth  of 
some  fifteen-year-old  boy  masquerading  as  twenty,  his  jocu 
lar  remarks  about  the  height  of  some  soldier  towering  above 
his  own  six  feet  four.  When,  later,  he  visited  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  on  the  Rappahannock  and  at  Antietam,  these 
impressions  of  his  interest  in  the  personal  welfare  of  the  sol 
diers  were  renewed.  He  walked  down  the  long  lines  of  tents 
or  huts,  noting  the  attempts  at  decoration,  the  housekeep 
ing  conveniences,  replying  by  smiles  and  nods  and  sometimes 
with  words  to  the  greetings,  rough  and  hearty,  which  he  re 
ceived.  He  inquired  into  every  phase  of  camp  life,  and  the 
men  knew  it,  and  said  to  one  another,  "  He  cares  for  us;  he 
makes  us  fight,  but  he  cares." 

Reports  of  scores  of  cases  where  he  interfered  personally 
to  secure  some  favor  or  right  for  a  soldier  found  their  way  to 
the  army  and  gave  solid  foundation  to  this  impression  that 
he  was  the  soldier's  friend.  From  the  time  of  the  arrival  of 
the  first  troops  in  Washington,  in  April,  1861,  the  town  was 
full  of  men,  all  of  them  wanting  to  see  the  President.  At 
first  they  were  gay  and  curious  merely,  their  requests  trivial ; 
but  later,  when  the  army  had  settled  down  to  steady  fight 
ing,  and  Bull  Run  and  the  Peninsula  and  Antietam  and 
Fredericksburg  and  Chancellorsville  had  cut  and  scarred  and 
aged  it,  the  soldiers  who  haunted  Washington  were  changed. 
They  stumped  about  on  crutches.  They  sat  pale  and  thin 
in  the  parks,  empty  sleeves  pinned  to  their  breasts;  they 
came  to  the  White  House  begging  for  furloughs  to  see 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  SOLDIERS  151 

dying  parents,  for  release  to  support  a  suffering  family. 
No  man  will  ever  know  how  many  of  these  soldiers  Abra 
ham  Lincoln  helped.  Little  cards  are  constantly  turning  up 
in  different  parts  of  the  country,  treasured  by  private  sol 
diers,  on  which  he  had  written  some  brief  note  to  a  proper 
authority,  intended  to  help  a  man  out  of  a  difficulty.  Here 
is  one: 


SEC.  OF  WAR,  please  see  thi?  Pittsburgh  boy.  He 
is  very  young,  and  I  shall  be  satisfied  with  whatever 
you  do  with  him.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Aug.  21,  1863. 

The  "  Pittsburgh  boy  "  had  enlisted  at  seventeen.  He 
had  been  ill  with  a  long  fever.  He  wanted  a  furlough,  and 
with  a  curious  trust  that  anything  could  be  done  if  he  could 
only  get  to  the  President,  he  had  slipped  into  the  White 
House,  and  by  chance  met  Lincoln,  who  listened  to  his  story 
and  gave  him  this  note. 

Many  applications  reached  Lincoln  as  he  passed  to  and 
from  the  White  House  and  the  War  Department.  One  day 
as  he  crossed  the  park  he  was  stopped  by  a  negro  who  told 
him  a  pitiful  story.  The  President  wrote  him  out  a  check 
for  five  dollars.  "  Pay  to  colored  man  with  one  leg,"  it 
read.  This  check  is  now  in  the  collection  of  H.  H.  Officee 
of  Denver,  Colorado. 

A  pleasing  scene  between  Lincoln  and  a  soldier  once  fell 
under  the  eye  of  Mr.  A.  W.  Swan  of  Albuquerque,  New 


152  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

Mexico,  on  this  same  path  between  the  White  House  and  the 
War  Department: 

"  In  company  with  a  gentleman,  I  was  on  the  way  to  the 
War  Department  one  day.  Our  way  led  through  a  small 
park  between  the  White  House  and  the  War  Department 
building.  As  we  entered  this  park  we  noticed  Mr.  Lincoln 
just  ahead  of  us,  and  meeting  him  a  private  soldier  who  was 
evidently  in  a  violent  passion,  as  he  was  swearing  in  a  high 
key,  cursing  the  Government  from  the  President  down.  Mr. 
Lincoln  paused  as  he  met  the  irate  soldier,  and  asked  him 
what  was  the  matter.  '  Matter  enough/  was  the  reply.  '  I 
want  my  money.  I  have  been  discharged  here,  and  can't  get 
my  pay/  Mr.  Lincoln  asked  if  he  had  his  papers,  saying  that 
he  used  to  practice  law  in  a  small  way  and  possibly  could 
help  him.  My  friend  and  I  stepped  behind  some  convenient 
shrubbery  where  we  could  watch  the  result.  Mr.  Lincoln 
took  the  papers  from  the  hands  of  the  crippled  soldier,  and 
sat  down  with  him  at  the  foot  of  a  convenient  tree,  where  he 
examined  them  carefully,  and  writing  a  line  on  the  back 
told  the  soldier  to  take  them  to  Mr.  Potts,  Chief  Clerk  of  the 
War  Department,  who  would  doubtless  attend  to  the  matter 
at  once.  After  Mr.  Lincoln  had  left  the  soldier,  we  stepped 
out  and  asked  him  if  he  knew  whom  he  had  been  talking 
with.  '  Some  ugly  old  fellow  who  pretends  to  be  a  lawyer/ 
was  the  reply.  My  companion  asked  to  see  the  papers,  and 
on  their  being  handed  to  him,  pointed  to  the  indorsement 
they  had  received.  This  indorsement  read :  '  Mr.  Potts,  at 
tend  to  this  man's  case  at  once  and  see  that  he  gets  his  pay. 
A.  L.'  The  initials  were  too  familiar  with  men  in  position 
to  know  them  to  be  ignored.  We  went  with  the  soldier,  who 
had  just  returned  from  Libby  Prison  and  had  been  given  a 
hospital  certificate  for  discharge,  to  see  Mr.  Potts,  and  be 
fore  the  Paymaster's  office  was  closed  for  the  day,  he  had 
received  his  discharge  and  check  for  the  money  due  him,  he 
in  the  meantime  not  knowing  whether  to  be  the  more  pleased 
or  sorry  to  think  he  had  cursed  '  Abe  Lincoln  '  to  his  face." 

It  was  not  alone  the  soldier  to  whom  the  President  lis 
tened  ;  it  was  also  to  his  wife,  his  mother,  his  daughter, 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  SOLDIERS  153 

"  I  remember  one  morning,"  says  Mr.  A.  B.  Chandler, 
"  his  coming  into  my  office  with  a  distressed  expression  on 
his  face  and  saying  to  Major  Eckert,  '  Eckert,  who  is  that 
woman  crying  out  in  the  hall?  What  is  the  matter  with 
her  ? '  Eckert  said  he  did  not  know,  but  would  go  and  find 
out.  He  came  back  soon,  and  said  that  it  was  a  woman  who 
had  come  a  long  distance  expecting  to  go  down  to  the  army 
to  see  her  husband,  that  she  had  some  very  important  mat 
ters  to  consult  him  about.  An  order  had  gone  out  a  short 
time  before  to  allow  no  women  in  the  army,  except  in  special 
cases.  She  was  bitterly  disappointed,  and  was  crying  over  it. 
Mr.  Lincoln  sat  moodily  for  a  moment  after  hearing  this 
story,  and  suddenly  looking  up,  said,  '  Let's  send  her  down. 
You  write  the  order,  Major/  Major  Eckert  hesitated  a  mo 
ment,  and  said,  '  Would  it  not  be  better  for  Colonel  Hardie 
to  write  the  order  ? '  '  Yes,'  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  '  that  is  better ; 
let  Hardie  write  it/  The  major  went  out,  and  soon  returned, 
saying,  '  Mr.  President,  would  it  not  be  better  in  this  case  to 
let  the  woman's  husband  come  to  Washington  ?  '  Mr.  Lin 
coln's  face  lighted  up  with  pleasure.  '  Yes,  yes/  he  said ; 
'  let's  bring  him  up/  The  order  was  written,  and  the  woman 
was  told  that  her  husband  would  come  to  Washington.  This 
done,  her  sorrows  seemed  lifted  from  Mr.  Lincoln's  heart, 
and  he  sat  down  to  his  yellow  tissue  telegrams  with  a  serene 
face/* 

The  futility  of  trying  to  help  all  the  soldiers  who  found 
their  way  to  him  must  have  come  often  to  Lincoln's  mind. 
"  Now,  my  man,  go  away,  go  away,"  General  Fry  overheard 
him  say  one  day  to  a  soldier  who  was  pleading  for  the  Presi 
dent's  interference  in  his  behalf;  "  I  cannot  meddle  in  your 
case.  I  could  as  easily  bail  out  the  Potomac  with  a  teaspoon 
as  attend  to  all  the  details  of  the  army/' 

The  President's  relations  with  individual  soldiers  were,  of 
course,  transient.  Washington  was  for  the  great  body  of  sol 
diers,  whatever  their  condition,  only  a  half-way  house  be 
tween  North  and  South.  The  only  body  of  soldiers  with 
which  the  President  had  long  association  was  Company  K 


1 54  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

of  the  i5Oth  Pennsylvania  Volunteers.  This  company, 
raised  in  Crawford  County,  in  northwestern  Pennsylvania, 
reached  Washington  in  the  first  days  of  September,  1862. 
September  6,  Captain  D.  V.  Derickson  of  Meadville,  Penn 
sylvania,  who  was  in  command  of  the  company,  received 
orders  to  march  his  men  to  the  Soldiers'  Home,  to  act 
there  as  a  guard  to  the  President,  who  was  occupying  a  cot 
tage  in  the  grounds. 

"  The  next  morning  after  our  arrival,"  says  Mr.  Derick 
son,  "  the  President  sent  a  messenger  to  my  quarters,  stating 
that  he  would  like  to  see  the  captain  of  the  guard  at  his  resi 
dence.  I  immediately  reported.  After  an  informal  intro 
duction  and  handshaking,  he  asked  me  if  I  would  have  any 
objection  to  riding  with  him  to  the  city.  I  replied  that  it 
would  give  me  much  pleasure  to  do  so,  when  he  invited  me 
to  take  a  seat  in  the  carriage.  On  our  way  to  the  city,  he 
made  numerous  inquiries,  as  to  my  name,  where  I  came 
from,  what  regiment  I  belonged  to,  etc.  .  .  . 

"  When  we  entered  the  city,  Mr.  Lincoln  said  he  would 
call  at  General  Halleck's  headquarters  and  get  what  news 
had  been  received  from  the  army  during  the  night.  I  in 
formed  him  that  General  Cullum,  chief  aid  to  General  Hal- 
leek,  was  raised  in  Meadville  and  that  I  knew  him  when  I 
was  a  boy.  He  replied,  l  Then  we  must  see  both  the  gentle 
men.'  Wrhen  the  carriage  stopped,  he  requested  me  to  remain 
seated,  and  said  he  would  bring  the  gentlemen  down  to  see 
me,  the  office  being  on  the  second  floor.  In  a  short  time  the 
President  came  down,  followed  by  the  other  gentlemen. 
When  he  introduced  them  to  me,  General  Cullum  recognized 
and  seemed  pleased  to  see  me.  In  General  Halleck  I  thought 
I  discovered  a  kind  of  quizzical  look,  as  much  as  to  say, 
'  Isn't  this  rather  a  big  joke  to  ask  the  Commander-in-Chief 
of  the  Army  down  to  the  street  to  be  introduced  to  a  country 
captain  ? '  .  .  . 

"  Supposing  that  the  invitation  to  ride  to  the  city  with  the 
President  was  as  much  to  give  him  an  opportunity  to  look 
over  and  interview  the  new  captain  as  for  any  other  purpose, 
I  did  not  report  the  next  morning.  During  ^  day  I  was  in- 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  SOLDIERS  155 

formed  that  it  was  the  desire  of  the  President  that  I  should 
breakfast  with  him  and  accompany  him  to  the  White  House 
every  morning,  and  return  with  him  in  the  evening.  This 
duty  I  entered  upon  with  much  pleasure,  and  was  on  hand  in 
good  time  next  morning;  and  I  continued  to  perform  this 
duty  until  we  moved  to  the  White  House  in  November.  It 
was  Mr.  Lincoln's  custom,  on  account  of  the  pressure  of 
business,  to  breakfast  before  the  other  members  of  the  fam-, 
ily  were  up ;  and  I  usually  entered  his  room  at  half-past  six 
or  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  where  I  often  found  him 
reading  the  Bible  or  some  work  on  the  art  of  war.  On  my 
entering,  he  would  read  aloud  and  offer  comments  of  his 
own  as  he  read. 

"  I  usually  went  down  to  the  city  at  four  o'clock  and  re 
turned  with  the  President  at  five.  He  often  carried  a  small 
portfolio  containing  papers  relating  to  the  business  of  the 
day,  and  spent  many  hours  on  them  in  the  evening.  .  .  . 
I  found  Mr.  Lincoln  to  be  one  of  the  most  kind-hearted  and 
pleasant  gentlemen  that  I  had  ever  met.  He  never  spoke  un 
kindly  of  any  one.  and  always  spoke  of  the  rebels  as  '  those 
Southern  gentlemen/  "* 

This  kindly  relation  begun  with  the  captain,  the  President 
extended  to  every  man  of  his  company.  It  was  their  pride 
that  he  knew  every  one  of  them  by  name.  "  He  always  called 
me  Joe,"  I  heard  a  veteran  of  the  guard  say,  a  quaver  in  his 
voice.  He  never  passed  the  men  on  duty  without  acknowl 
edging  their  salute,  and  often  visited  their  camp.  Once  in 
passing  when  the  men  were  at  mess,  he  called  out,  "  That 
coffee  smells  good,  boys;  give  me  a  cup/'  And  on  another 
occasion  he  asked  for  a  plate  of  beans,  and  sat  down  on  a 
camp-stool  and  ate  them.  Mrs.  Lincoln  frequently  visited 
the  company  with  the  President,  and  many  and  many  a  gift 
to  the  White  House  larder  from  enthusiastic  supporters  of 
the  Administration  was  sent  to  the  boys — now  a  barrel  of 
apple  butter,  now  a  quarter  of  beef.  On  holidays,  Mrs.  Lin- 

*  Major  D.  V.  Derickson  in  the  Centennial  Edition  of  the  Meadville 
"  Tribune-Republican." 


1 56  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

coin  made  it  a  rule  to  provide  Company  K  with  a  turkey 
dinner. 

Late  in  the  fall  of  1862,  an  attempt  was  made  to  depose 
the  company.  Every  member  of  the  guard  now  living  can 
quote  verbatim  the  note  which  the  President  wrote  settling 
the  matter : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON, 
November  i,  1862. 

To  Whom  it  May  Concern :  Captain  Derickson,  with  his 
company,  has  been  for  some  time  keeping  guard  at  my  resi 
dence,  now  at  the  Soldiers'  Retreat.  He  and  his  company 
are  very  agreeable  to  me,  and  while  it  is  deemed  proper  for 
any  guard  to  remain,  none  would  be  more  satisfactory  than 
Captain  Derickson  and  his  company.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Thr  welfare  of  the  men,  their  troubles,  escapades,  amuse 
ments,  were  treated  by  the  President  as  a  kind  of  family 
matter.  He  never  forgot  to  ask  after  the  sick,  often  secured 
a  pass  or  a  furlough  for  some  one,  and  took  genuine  delight 
in  the  camp  fun. 

"  While  we  were  in  camp  at  the  Soldiers'  Home  in  the 
fall  of  1862,"  says  Mr.  C.  M.  Derickson  of  Mercer,  Penn 
sylvania,  "  the  boys  indulged  in  various  kinds  of  amuse* 
ment.  I  think  it  was  the  Kepler  boys  who  introduced  the 
trained  elephant.  Two  men  of  about  the  same  size,  both  in 
a  stooped  position,  were  placed  one  ahead  of  the  other.  An 
army  blanket  was  then  thrown  over  them  so  that  it  came 
about  to  their  knees,  and  a  trunk,  improvised  by  wrapping 
a  piece  of  a  blanket  around  a  small  elastic  piece  of  wood, 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  front  man.  Here  you  have 
your  elephant.  Ours  was  taught  to  get  down  on  his  knees, 
stand  on  one  leg,  and  do  various  other  tricks.  While  the 
elephant  was  going  through  his  exercises  one  evening,  the 
President  strolled  into  camp.  He  was  very  much  amused  at 
the  wonderful  feats  the  elephant  could  perform,  and  a  few 
evenings  after  he  called  again  and  brought  a  friend  with  him, 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  SOLDIERS  157 

and  asked  the  captain  if  he  would  not  have  the  elephant 
brought  out  again,  as  he  would  like  to  have  his  friend  see 
him  perform.  Of  course  it  was  done,  to  the  great  amuse 
ment  of  both  the  President  and  his  friend." 

No  doubt  much  of  the  President's  interest  in  Company 
K  was  due  to  his  son  Tad.  The  boy  was  a  great  favorite 
with  the  men,  and  probably  carried  to  his  father  many  a  tale 
of  the  camp.  He  considered  himself,  in  fact,  no  unimportant 
part  of  the  organization,  for  he  wore  a  uniform,  carried  a 
lieutenant's  commission,  often  drilled  with  the  men  or  rode 
on  his  pony  at  their  head  in  reviews,  and  much  of  the  time 
messed  with  them.  One  of  the  odd  duties  which  devolved 
upon  Company  K  was  looking  after  Tad's  goats.  These 
animals  have  been  given  a  place  in  history  by  Lincoln  him 
self  in  telegrams  to  Mrs.  Lincoln,  duly  filed  in  the  records 
of  the  War  Department :  "  Tell  Tad  the  goats  and  father 
are  very  well,  especially  the  goats,"  he  wired  one  day;  and 
again.  "  All  well,  including  Tad's  pony  and  the  goats." 
They  were  privileged  beings  on  the  White  House  lawn,  and 
were  looked  after  by  the  company  because  of  Tad's  affection 
for  them.  They  met  an  untimely  end,  being  burned  to  death 
in  a  fire,  which  destroyed  the  White  House  stables,  February 
10,  1864. 

The  two  most  harowing  consequences  of  war,  the  havoc 
of  the  battlefield  and  the  disease  of  camp  life,  from  the  be 
ginning  to  the  end  of  the  Civil  War,  centered  in  Washing 
ton.  It  was  the  point  to  which  every  man  disabled  in  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  must  come  sooner  or  later  for  care  or 
to  be  transferred  to  the  North.  After  battles,  the  city 
seemed  turned  into  one  great  hospital.  For  days  then  a 
long,  straggling  train  of  mutilated  men  poured  in.  They 
came  on  flat  cars  or  open  transports,  piled  so  close  together 
that  no  attendant  could  pass  between  them ;  protected  occa 
sionally  from  the  cold  by  a  blanket  which  had  escaped  with 


153  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

its  owner,  or  from  the  sun  by  green  boughs  placed  in  their 
hands  or  laid  over  their  faces.  When  Washington  was 
reached,  all  that  could  be  done  was  to  lay  them  in  long  rows 
on  the  wharfs  or  platforms  until  ambulances  could  carry 
them  to  the  hospitals.  It  is  when  one  considers  the  numbers 
of  wounded  in  the  great  Virginia  battles  that  he  realizes 
the  length  and  awfulness  of  the  streams  which  flowed  into 
Washington.  At  Fredericksburg  they  numbered  9,600;  at 
Chancellorsville,  9,762;  in  the  Wilderness,  12,037;  at  Spott- 
sylvania,  13,416. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  war,  Washington  was  so  poorly 
supplied  with  hospitals  that  after  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run 
churches,  dwellings,  and  government  buildings  were  seized 
to  place  the  wounded  in,  and  there  were  so  few  nurses  that 
the  people  of  Washington  had  to  be  called  upon.  Very  rap 
idly  little  settlements  of  board  barracks  or  of  white  army 
tents  multiplied  in  the  open  spaces  in  and  around  the  town, 
quarters  for  the  sick  and  wounded.  Nurses  poured  in  from 
the  North.  Organizations  for  relief  multiplied.  By  the 
end  of  1862,  Mr.  Lincoln  could  scarcely  drive  or  walk  in  any 
direction  about  Washington  without  passing  a  hospital. 
Even  in  going  to  his  summer  cottage,  at  the  Soldiers'  Home, 
the  President  did  not  escape  the  sight  of  the  wounded.  The 
rolling  hillside  was  dotted  with  white  hospital  tents  during 
the  entire  war.  In  many  places  the  tents  were  placed  close 
to  the  road,  so  as  to  get  more  air,  the  grounds  being  more 
thickly  wooded  than  they  are  now.  As  he  drove  home,  after 
a  harrowing  day  in  the  White  House,  the  President  fre 
quently  looked  from  his  carriage  upon  the  very  beds  of 
wounded  soldiers. 

Every  member  of  the  Government,  whether  he  would  or 
notj  was  obliged  to  give  some  attention  to  this  side  of  the 
war.  It  became  a  regular  feature  of  a  congressman's  life 
in  those  days  *o  spend  every  Saturday  or  Sunday  afternoon 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  SOLDIERS  1 59 

in  the  hospitals,  visiting  the  wounded  men  from  his  district. 
He  wrote  their  letters,  brought  them  news,  saw  to  their 
wants.  If  he  had  not  done  it,  his  constituents  would  have 
disposed  of  him  in  short  order. 

In  1862,  Mr.  Lincoln  called  Dr.  D.  Willard  Bliss  from  the 
field  to  Washington,  to  aid  in  organizing  a  more  perfect 
system  of  general  hospitals  in  and  about  the  city.  One  re 
sult  of  Dr.  Bliss's  coming  was  the  building  of  Armory 
Square  Hospital,  one  of  the  best  conducted  institutions  of 
the  Civil  War.  Lincoln  gave  his  personal  attention  to  the 
building  of  Armory  Square,  and  for  a  long  time  met  Dr. 
Bliss  twice  each  week  to  consider  the  ingenious  appliances 
which  the  latter  devised  to  aid  in  caring  for  and  treating  the 
wounded.  Some  of  these  appliances  the  President  paid  for 
out  of  his  own  pocket.  Not  infrequently  he  had  some  sug 
gestion  to  make  for  the  comfort  of  the  place.  It  was  due 
to  him  that  Armory  Square  became  a  bower  of  vine  and 
bloom  in  the  summer.  "  Why  don't  you  plant  flower 
seeds  ?  "  he  asked  Dr.  Bliss  one  day.  The  doctor  said  he 
would  if  he  had  seeds.  "  I'll  order  them  for  you  from  the 
Agricultural  Department,"  replied  the  President,  and  sure 
enough  he  did;  and  thereafter,  all  through  the  season,  each 
of  the  long  barracks  had  its  own  flower  bed  and  vines. 

The  President  himself  visited  the  hospitals  as  often  as  he 
could,  visits  never  forgotten  by  the  men  to  whom  he  spoke  as 
he  passed  up  and  down  the  wards,  shaking  hands  here,  giv 
ing  a  cheering  word  there,  making  jocular  comments  every 
where.  There  are  men  still  living  who  tell  of  a  little  scene 
they  witnessed  at  Armory  Square  in  1863.  A  soldier  of  the 
i4Oth  Regiment,  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  had  been 
wounded  in  the  shoulder  at  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville 
and  taken  to  Washington.  One  day,  as  he  was  becoming 
convalescent,  a  whisper  ran  down  the  long  row  of  cots 
that  the  President  was  in  the  building  and  would  soon  pass 


i6o  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

by.  Instantly  every  boy  in  blue  who  was  able  arose,  stood 
erect,  hands  to  the  side,  ready  to  salute  his  Commander-in- 
Chief.  The  Pennsylvanian  stood  six  feet  seven  inches  in  his 
stockings.  Lincoln  was  six  feet  four.  As  the  President  ap 
proached  this  giant  towering  above  him,  he  stopped  in 
amazement,  and  casting  his  eyes  from  head  to  foot  and  from 
foot  to  head,  as  if  contemplating  the  immense  distance  from 
one  extremity  to  the  other,  he  stood  for  a  moment  speech 
less.  At  length,  extending  his  hand,  he  exclaimed,  "  Hello, 
comrade,  do  you  know  when  your  feet  get  cold  ?  " 

Lincoln  rarely  forgot  a  patient  whom  he  saw  a  second 
time,  and  to  stubborn  cases  that  remained  from  month  to 
month  he  gave  particular  attention.  There  was  in  Armory 
Square  Hospital  for  a  long  time  a  boy  known  as  "  little 
Johnnie."  He  was  hopelessly  crippled — doomed  to  death, 
but  cheerful,  and  a  general  favorite.  Lincoln  never  failed 
to  stop  at  "  little  Johnnie's  "  cot  when  he  went  to  Armory 
Square,  and  he  frequently  sent  him  fruit  and  flowers  and  a 
friendly  message  through  Mrs.  Lincoln. 

Of  all  the  incidents  told  of  Lincoln's  hospital  visits,  there 
is  nothing  more  characteristic,  better  worth  preservation, 
than  the  one  following,  preserved  by  Dr.  Jerome  Walker  of 
Brooklyn : 

"  Just  one  week  before  his  assassination,  President  Lin 
coln  visited  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  at  City  Point,  Vir 
ginia,  and  carefully  examined  the  hospital  arrangements  of 
the  Ninth,  Sixth,  Fifth,  Second,  and  Sixteenth  Corps  hospi 
tals  and  of  the  Engineer  Corps,  there  stationed.  At  that  time 
I  was  an  agent  of  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission 
attached  to  the  Ninth  Corps  Hospital.  Though  a  boy  of 
nineteen  years,  to  me  was  assigned  the  duty  of  escorting  the 
President  through  our  department  of  the  hospital  system. 
The  reader  can  imagine  the  pride  with  which  I  fulfilled  the 
duty,  and  as  we  went  from  tent  to  tent  I  could  not  but  note 
his  gentleness,  his  friendly  greetings  to  the  sick  and 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  SOLDIERS  l6l 

wounded,  his  quiet  humor  as  he  drew  comparisons  between 
himself  and  the  very  tall  and  very  short  men  with  whom 
he  came  in  contact,  and  his  genuine  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
the  soldiers. 

"  Finally,  after  visiting  the  wards  occupied  by  our  invalid 
and  convalescing  soldiers,  we  came  to  three  wards  occupied 
by  sick  and  wounded  Southern  prisoners.  With  a  feeling 
of  patriotic  duty,  I  said,  '  Mr.  President,  you  won't  want  to 
go  in  there;  they  are  only  rebels/  I  will  never  forget  how 
he  stopped  and  gently  laid  his  large  hand  upon  my  shoulder 
and  quietly  answered,  '  You  mean  Confederates/  And  I 
have  meant  Confederates  ever  since. 

"  There  was  nothing  left  for  me  to  do  after  the  Presi 
dent's  remark  but  to  go  with  him  through  these  three  wards ; 
and  I  could  not  see  but  that  he  was  just  as  kind,  his  hand 
shakings  just  as  hearty,  his  interest  just  as  real  for  the  wel 
fare  of  the  men,  as  when  he  was  among  our  own  soldiers. 

"  As  we  returned  to  headquarters,  the  President  urged 
upon  me  the  importance  of  caring  for  them  as  faithfully  as  I 
should  for  our  own  sick  and  wounded.  When  I  visited  next 
day  these  three  wards,  the  Southern  officers  and  soldiers 
were  full  of  praise  for  '  Abe '  Lincoln,  as  they  called  him, 
and  when  a  week  afterwards  the  news  came  of  the  assassina 
tion,  there  was  no  truer  sorrow  nor  greater  indignation  any 
where  than  was  shown  by  these  same  Confederates." 

One  great  cause  of  sorrow  to  Lincoln  throughout  the  war 
was  the  necessity  of  punishing  soldiers.  Not  only  did  the 
men  commit  all  the  crimes  common  to  society,  like  robbery 
and  murder;  they  were  guilty  of  others  peculiar  to  military 
organization  and  war,  such  as  desertion,  sleeping  on  post, 
disobedience  to  orders,  bounty  jumping,  giving  informa 
tion  to  the  enemy.  As  the  army  grew  larger,  desertion  be 
came  so  common  and  so  disastrous  to  efficiency  that  it  had 
to  be  treated  with  great  severity.  Lincoln  seems  to  have 
had  his  attention  first  called  to  it  seriously  when  he  visited 
McClellan's  army  in  July,  1862,  for  he  wrote  to  McClellan, 
July  13: 


LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  am  told  that  over  160,000  men  have  gone 
into  your  army  on  the  Peninsula.  When  I  was  with  you 
the  other  day  we  made  out  86,500  remaining,  leaving  73,500 
to  be  accounted  for.  I  believe  23,500  will  cover  all  the  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing  in  all  your  battles  and  skirmishes, 
leaving  50,000  who  have  left  otherwise.  Not  more  than 
5,000  of  these  have  died,  leaving  45,000  of  your  army  still 
alive  and  not  with  it.  I  believe  half  or  two-thirds  of  them 
are  fit  for  duty  to-day.  Have  you  any  more  perfect  knowl 
edge  of  this  than  I  have  ?  If  I  am  right,  and  you  had  these 
men  with  you,  you  could  go  into  Richmond  in  the  next  three 
days.  How  can  they  be  got  to  you,  and  how  can  they  be 
prevented  from  getting  away  in  such  numbers  for  the  fu 
ture?  A.  LINCOLN. 

About  the  same  time,  Buell  reported  14,000  absentees 
from  his  army.  In  the  winter  of  1862  and  1863  it  grew 
worse.  General  Hooker  says  that  when  he  took  charge  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  January,  1863,  the  desertions 
were  at  the  rate  of  200  a  day.  "I  caused  a  return  to  be  made 
of  the  absentees  of  the  army/'  he  continues,  "  and  found 
the  number  to  be  2,922  commissioned  officers  and  81,964 
non-commissioned  officers  and  privates.  These  were  scat 
tered  all  over  the  country,  and  the  majority  were  absent 
from  causes  unknown." 

When  the  Bureau  of  the  Provost-Marshal  was  established 
in  March,  1863,  finding  and  punishing  deserters  became  one 
of  its  duties.  Much  of  the  difficulty  was  due  to  the  methods 
of  recruiting.  To  stimulate  volunteering  for  long  periods, 
the  Government  began  in  1861  to  offer  bounties.  The  boun 
ties  offered  by  the  Government  were  never  large,  however, 
and  were  paid  in  installments,  so  that  no  great  evil  resulted 
from  them.  But  later,  when  the  quota  of  each  State  and  dis 
trict  was  fixed,  and  the  draft  instituted,  State  and  local 
bounties  were  added  to  those  of  the  Government.  In  some 
places  the  bounties  offered  aggregated  $1,500,  a  large  part 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  SOLDIERS  163 

of  which  was  paid  on  enlistment.  Immediately  a  new  class 
of  military  criminals  sprang  up,  "  bounty- jumpers,"  men 
who  enlisted,  drew  the  bounty,  deserted,  and  reenlisted  at 
some  other  point. 

The  law  allowed  men  who  had  been  drafted  to  send  substi 
tutes,  and  a  new  class  of  speculators,  known  as  "  substitute- 
brokers,"  appeared.  They  did  a  thriving  business  in  procur 
ing  substitutes  for  drafted  men  who,  for  one  reason  or  an 
other,  did  not  want  to  go  into  the  war.  These  recruits  were 
frequently  of  a  very  poor  class,  and  a  large  percentage  of 
them  took  the  first  chance  to  desert.  It  is  said  that,  out  of 
625  recruits  sent  to  re-enforce  one  regiment,  over  40  per 
cent,  deserted  on  the  way.  In  the  general  report  of  the 
Provost-Marshal-General  made  at  the  close  of  the  war,  the 
aggregate  deserting  was  given  at  201,397. 

The  result  of  all  this  was  that  the  severest  penalties  were 
enforced  for  desertion.  The  President  never  ceased  to  ab 
hor  the  death  penalty  for  this  offense.  While  he  had  as  little 
sympathy  as  Stanton  himself  with  the  frauds  practised  and 
never  commuted  the  sentence  of  a  bounty- jumper,  as  far  as 
I  have  been  able  to  discover,  over  the  great  number  of  sen 
tences  he  hesitated.  He  seemed  to  see  what  others  ignored, 
the  causes  which  were  behind.  Many  and  many  a  man  de 
serted  in  the  winter  of  1862-1863  because  of  the  Emancipa 
tion  Proclamation.  He  did  not  believe  the  President  had  the 
right  to  issue  it,  and  he  refused  to  fight.  Lincoln  knew,  too, 
that  the  "  copperhead "  agitation  in  the  North  reached 
the  army,  and  that  hundreds  of  men  were  being  urged  by 
parents  and  friends  hostile  to  the  Administration  to  desert. 
His  indignation  never  was  against  the  boy  who  yielded  to 
this  influence. 

"  Must  I  shoot  a  simple-minded  soldier  boy  who  deserts," 
he  said,  "  while  I  must  not  touch  a  hair  of  a  wily  agitator 
who  induces  him  to  desert?  This  is  none  the  less  injurious 


1 64  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

when  effected  by  getting  a  father,  or  brother,  or  friend  into 
a  public  meeting,  and  there  working  upon  his  feelings  until 
he  is  persuaded  to  write  the  soldier  boy  that  he  is  fighting  in 
a  bad  cause,  for  a  wicked  administration  of  a  contemptible 
government,  too  weak  to  arrest  and  punish  him  if  he  shall 
desert.  I  think  that  in  such  a  case,  to  silence  the  agitator, 
and  save  the  boy,  is  not  only  constitutional,  but  withal  a 
great  mercy." 

Another  cause  he  never  forgot  was  that  mortal  homesick 
ness  which  so  often  ate  the  very  heart  out  of  a  boy  away 
from  home  for  the  first  time.  It  filled  many  a  hospital  cot 
in  the  Civil  War,  and  shriveled  the  nerves  and  sapped  the 
courage  until  men  forgot  everything  but  home,  and  fled. 
Lincoln  seemed  to  see  in  a  flash  the  whole  army  history  of 
these  cases :  the  boy  enlisting  in  the  thrill  of  perhaps  his  first 
great  passion;  his  triumphal  march  to  the  field;  the  long, 
hard  months  of  seasoning;  the  deadly  longing  for  home 
overtaking  him ;  a  chance  to  desert  taken ;  the  capture.  He 
could  not  condemn  such  a  boy  to  death. 

The  time  Lincoln  gave  to  listening  to  the  intercessions  of 
friends  in  behalf  of  condemned  deserters,  the  extent  of  his 
clemency,  is  graphically  shown  in  the  manuscript  records 
of  the  War  Department  which  refer  to  prisoners  of  war. 
Scores  of  telegrams  are  filed  there,  written  out  by  Lincoln 
himself,  inquiring  into  the  reasons  for  an  execution  or  sus 
pending  it  entirely.  These  telegrams,  which  have  never  been 
published,  furnish  the  documentary  proof,  if  any  is  wanted, 
of  the  man's  great  heart,  his  entire  willingness  to  give  him 
self  infinite  trouble  to  prevent  an  injustice  or  to  soften  a 
sorrow.  "  Suspend  execution  and  forward  record  for  exam' 
ination,"  was  his  usual  formula  for  telegrams  of  this  nature. 
The  record  would  be  sent,  but  after  it  was  in  his  hands  he 
would  defer  its  examination  from  week  to  week.  Often  he 
telegraphed,  "  Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  until 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  SOLDIERS  165 

further  orders/'  "  But  that  does  not  pardon  my  boy,"  said  a 
father  to  him  once. 

"  My  dear  man,"  said  the  President,  laying  his  hand  on 
his  shoulder,  "  do  you  suppose  /  will  ever  give  orders  for 
your  boy's  execution  ?  " 

In  sending  these  orders  for  suspension  of  execution,  the 
President  frequently  went  himself  personally  to  the  telegraph 
office  and  watched  the  operator  send  them,  so  afraid  was  he 
that  they  might  not  be  forwarded  in  time.  To  dozens  of  the 
orders  sent  over  from  the  White  House  by  a  messenger  is 
attached  a  little  note  signed  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  or  by  one  of  his 
secretaries,  and  directed  to  Major  Eckert,  the  chief  of  the 
office :  "  Major  Eckert,  please  send  above  despatch,"  or 
"  Will  you  please  hurry  off  the  above  ?  To-morrow  is  the 
day  of  execution."  Not  infrequently  he  repeated  a  telegram 
or  sent  a  trailer  after  it  inquiring,  "  Did  you  receive  my 
despatch  suspending  sentence  of ?" 

Difficulty  in  tracing  a  prisoner  or  in  identifying  him  some 
times  arose.  The  President  only  took  additional  pains.  The 
following  telegrams  are  to  the  point : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  November  20,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE, 
ARMY  OF  POTOMAC. 

If  there  is  a  man  by  the  name  of  K under  sentence  to 

be  shot,  please  suspend  execution  till  further  order,  and  send 
record.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  November  20,  1863, 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE, 

ARMY  OF  POTOMAC. 

An  intelligent  woman  in  deep  distress  called  this  morning1, 
saying  her  husband,  a  lieutenant  in  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 


1 66  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

mac,  was  to  be  shot  next  Monday  for  desertion,  and  putting 
a  letter  in  my  hand,  upon  which  I  relied  for  particulars,  she 
left  without  mentioning  a  name  or  other  particular  by  which 
to  identify  the  case.  On  opening  the  letter  I  found  it  equally 
vague,  having  nothing  to  identify  it,  except  her  own  signa 
ture,  which  seems  to  be  Mrs.  A S.  K .  I  could  not 

again  find  her.  If  you  have  a  case  which  you  think  is  proba 
bly  the  one  intended,  please  apply  my  despatch  of  this  morn 
ing  to  it.  A.  LINCOLN. 

In  another  case,  where  the  whereabouts  of  a  man  who  had 
been  condemned  were  unknown,  Lincoln  telegraphed  him 
self  to  four  different  military  commanders,  ordering  suspen 
sion  of  the  man's  sentence. 

The  execution  of  very  young  soldiers  was  always  hateful 
to  him.  "  I  am  unwilling  for  any  boy  under  eighteen  to  be 
shot,"  he  telegraphed  Meade  in  reference  to  one  prisoner. 
And  in  suspending  another  sentence  he  gave  as  an  excuse, 
"  His  mother  says  he  is  but  seventeen."  This  boy  he  after 
ward  pardoned  "  on  account  of  his  tender  age." 

If  a  reason  for  pardoning  was  not  evident,  he  was  willing 
to  see  if  one  could  not  be  found : 

S W ,  private  in ,  writes  that  he  is  to 

be  shot  for  desertion  on  the  6th  instant.  His  own  story  is 
rather  a  bad  one,  and  yet  he  tells  it  so  frankly,  that  I  am 
somewhat  interested  in  him.  Has  he  been  a  good  soldier 
except  the  desertion  ?  About  how  old  is  he  ? 

A.  LINCOLN. 

Some  of  the  deserters  came  very  close  to  his  own  life. 
The  son  of  more  than  one  old  friend  was  condemned  for  a 
military  offense  in  the  war,  and  in  the  telegrams  is  recorded 
Lincoln's  treatment  of  these  trying  cases.  In  one  of  them 
the  boy  had  enlisted  in  the  Southern  Army  and  had  been 
taken  a  prisoner.  "  Please  send  him  to  me  by  an  officer,"  the 
President  telegraphed  the  military  commander  having  him 
in  charge.  Four  days  later  he  telegraphed  to  the  boy's  father: 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  SOLDIERS  167 

Your  son has  just  left  me  with  my  order  to  the  Sec 
retary  of  War  to  administer  to  him  the  oath  of  allegiance, 
discharge  him  and  send  him  to  you. 

In  another  case,  where  the  son  of  a  friend  was  under  trial 
for  desertion,  Lincoln  kept  himself  informed  of  the  trial, 
telegraphing  to  the  general  in  charge,  "  He  is  the  son  of  so 
close  a  friend  that  I  must  not  let  him  be  executed." 

And  yet,  in  spite  of  the  evident  reluctance  which  every 
telegram  shows  to  allowing  the  execution  of  a  death  sen 
tence,  there  are  many  which  prove  that,  unless  he  had  what 
he  considered  a  good  reason  for  suspending  a  sentence,  he 
would  not  do  it.  The  following  telegrams  are  illustrative : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  November  23,  1863. 

E.  P.  EVANS, 

WEST  UNION,  ADAMS  COUNTY,  OHIO. 

Yours  to  Governor  Chase  in  behalf  of  J A.  W 

is  before  me.  Can  there  be  a  worse  case  than  to  desert,  and 
with  letters  persuading  others  to  desert  ?  I  cannot  interpose 
without  a  better  showing  than  you  make.  When  did  he  de 
sert  ?  When  did  he  write  the  letters  ?  A.  LINCOLN. 

In  this  case  sentence  was  later  suspended  "  until  further 
orders." 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  April  21,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix, 

NEW  YORK. 

Yesterday  I  was  induced  to  telegraph  the  officer  in  mili 
tary  command  at  Fort  Warren,  Boston  Harbor,  Massachu 
setts,  suspending  the  execution  of  C C ,  to  be  ex 
ecuted  to-morrow  for  desertion.  Just  now,  on  reading  your 
order  in  the  case,  I  telegraphed  the  same  order  withdrawing 


168  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

the  suspension,  and  leaving  the  case  entirely  with  you. 
man's  friends  are  pressing  me,  but  I  refer  them  to  you,  in 
tending  to  take  no  further  action  myself. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  CITY,  April  25,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE, 
ARMY  OF  POTOMAC. 
A  Mr.  Corby  brought  you  a  note  from  me  at  the  foot  of 

a  petition,  I  believe,  in  the  case  of  D ,  to  be  executed 

to-day.  The  record  has  been  examined  here,  and  it  shows 
too  strong  a  case  for  a  pardon  or  commutation,  unless  there 
is  something  in  the  poor  man's  favor  outside  of  the  record, 
which  you  on  the  ground  may  know,  but  I  do  not.  My  note 
to  you  only  means  that  if  you  know  of  any  such  thing  ren 
dering  a  suspension  of  the  execution  proper,  on  your  own 
judgment,  you  are  at  liberty  to  suspend  it.  Otherwise  I  do 
not  interfere.  A.  LINCOLN. 

It  is  curious  to  note  how  the  President  found  time  to  at 
tend  to  these  cases  even  on  the  most  anxious  days  of  his  ad 
ministration.  On  the  very  day  on  which  he  telegraphed  to 
James  G.  Elaine  in  response  to  the  latter's  announcement 
that  Maine  had  gone  for  the  Union,  "  On  behalf  of  the 
Union,  thanks  to  Maine.  Thanks  to  you  personally  for 
sending  the  news,"  he  sent  two  telegrams  suspending  sen 
tences.  Such  telegrams  were  sent  on  days  of  great  battles, 
in  the  midst  of  victory,  in  the  despair  of  defeat.  Whatever 
he  was  doing,  the  fate  of  the  sentenced  soldier  was  on  his 
heart.  On  Friday,  which  was  usually  chosen  as  execution 
day,  he  often  was  heard  to  say,  "  They  are  shooting  a  boy 

at to-day.    I  hope  I  have  not  done  wrong  to  allow  it." 

In  spite  of  his  frequent  interference,  there  were  267  men  ex 
ecuted  by  the  United  States  military  authorities  during  the 
Civil  War.  Of  these,  141  were  executed  for  desertion,  and 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  SOLDIERS  169 

eight  for  desertion  coupled  with  some  other  crime,  such  as 
murder.  After  those  for  desertion,  the  largest  number  of 
executions  were  for  murder,  sixty-seven  in  all.  As  to  the 
manner  of  the  executions,  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven 
were  shot,  seventy-nine  hung,  and  in  one  case  the  offender 
was  sent  out  of  the  world  by  some  unknown  way. 

Incidents  and  documents  like  those  already  given,  show 
ing  the  care  and  the  sympathy  President  Lincoln  felt  for 
the  common  soldier,  might  be  multiplied  indefinitely.  Noth 
ing  that  concerned  the  life  of  the  men  in  the  line  was  foreign 
to  him.  The  man  might  have  shown  cowardice.  The 
President  only  said,  "  I  never  felt  sure  but  I  might  drop 
my  gun  and  run  away  if  I  found  myself  in  line  of  battle." 
The  man  might  be  poor  and  friendless.  "  If  he  has  no 
friends,  I'll  be  his  friend,"  Lincoln  said.  The  man  might 
have  deserted.  "  Suspend  execution,  send  me  his  record," 
was  the  President's  order.  He  was  not  only  the  Com 
mander-in-chief  of  all  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  he 
was  the  father  of  the  army,  and  never  did  a  man  better  de 
serve  a  title  than  did  he  the  one  the  soldiers  gave  him — 
"  Father  Abraham." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 
LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1864 

IT  WAS  not  until  the  fall  of  1863  that  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  able  to  point  to  any  substantial  results  from  the  long 
months  of  hard  thought  and  cautious  experiment  he  had 
given  to  the  Civil  War.  By  that  time  he  did  have  something 
to  show.  The  borders  of  the  Confederacy  had  been  pressed 
back  and  shut  in  by  an  impregnable  wall  of  ships  and  men. 
Mot  only  were  the  borders  of  the  Confederacy  narrowed ;  the 
territory  had  been  cut  in  two  by  the  opening  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  which,  in  Lincoln's  expressive  phrase,  now  ran  "  un- 
vexed  to  the  sea."  He  had  a  war  machine  at  last  which  kept 
the  ranks  of  the  army  full.  He  had  found  a  commander-in- 
chief  in  Grant;  and,  not  less  important,  he  had  found, 
simultaneously  with  Grant,  also  Sherman,  McPherson,  and 
Thomas,  as  well  as  the  proper  places  for  the  men  with 
whom  he  had  tried  such  costly  experiments — for  Burn- 
side  and  Hooker.  He  had  his  first  effective  results,  too, 
from  emancipation,  that  policy  which  he  had  inaugurated 
with  such  foreboding.  Fully  100,000  former  slaves  were 
now  in  the  United  States  service,  and  they  had  proved  be 
yond  question  their  value  as  soldiers.  More  than  this,  it  was 
evident  that  some  form  of  emancipation  would  soon  be 
adopted  by  the  former  slave  States  of  Tennessee,  Arkansas, 
Maryland,  and  Missouri. 

At  every  point,  in  short,  the  policy  which  Lincoln  had  set 
in  motion  with  painful  foresight  and  labor  was  working  as 
he  had  believed  it  would  work,  but  it  was  working  slowly. 
He  saw  that  many  months  of  struggle  and  blood  and  pa- 

170 


LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1864          I? I 

tience  were  needed  to  complete  his  task ;  many  months — and 
in  less  than  a  year  there  would  be  a  presidential  election,  and 
he  might  be  obliged  to  leave  his  task  unfinished.  He  did  not 
hesitate  to  say  frankly  that  he  wanted  the  opportunity  to 
finish  it.  Among  the  leaders  of  the  Republican  party  were  a 
few  conservatives  who,  in  the  fall  of  1863,  supported  Lin 
coln  in  his  desire  for  a  second  term;  but  there  were  more 
who  doubted  his  ability  and  who  were  secretly  looking  for 
an  abler  man.  At  the  same  time,  a  strong  and  open  opposi 
tion  to  his  re-election  had  developed  in  the  radical  wing  of 
the  party. 

The  real  cause  of  this  opposition  was  Lincoln's  unswerv- 
able  purpose  to  use  emancipation  purely  as  a  military  meas 
ure.  The  earliest  active  form  this  opposition  took  was  prob 
ably  under  the  direction  of  Horace  Greeley.  In  the  spring 
of  1863,  Mr.  Greeley  had  become  thoroughly  disheartened 
by  the  slow  progress  of  the  war  and  the  meager  results  of 
the  Emancipation  Proclamation.  He  was  looking  in  every 
direction  for  some  one  to  replace  Lincoln,  and  eventually 
he  settled  on  General  Rosecrans,  who  at  that  moment  was 
the  most  successful  general  before  the  country.  Greeley, 
after  consulting  with  a  number  of  Republican  leaders,  de 
cided  that  some  one  should  go  to  Rosecrans  and  sound  him. 
James  R.  Gilmore  ("  Edmund  Kirke  ")  was  chosen  for  this 
mission.  Mr.  Gilmore  recounts,  in  his  "  Personal  Recollec 
tions  of  Abraham  Lincoln,"  as  an  evidence  of  the  extent  of 
the  discontent  with  Lincoln,  that  when  he  started  on  his 
mission,  Mr.  Greeley  gave  him  letters  to  Rosecrans  from 
about  all  the  more  prominent  Republican  leaders  except  Ros- 
coe  Conkling,  Charles  Sumner,  and  Henry  Wilson. 

Mr.  Greeley' s  idea  was,  as  he  instructed  Mr,  Gilmore,  to 
find  out,  first,  if  Rosecrans  was  w  sound  on  the  goose  "  (po 
litical  slang  for  sound  on  the  anti-slavery  policy),  and,  sec 
ondly,  if  he  would  consider  the  nomination  to  the  presi- 


172  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

dency.  If  Mr.  Gilmore  found  Rosecrans  satisfactory, 
Greeley  declared  that  he  would  force  Lincoln  to  resign,  put 
Hamlin  in  his  place,  and  compel  the  latter  to  give  Rosecrans 
the  command  of  the  whole  army.  His  idea  was,  no  doubt, 
that  the  war  would  then  be  finished  promptly  and  Rosecrans 
would  naturally  be  the  candidate  in  1864. 

Mr.  Gilmore  went  on  his  mission.  Rosecrans  seemed  to 
him  to  fulfil  Mr.  Greeley's  ideas,  and  finally  he  laid  the  case 
before  him.  The  General  replied  very  promptly :  "  My  place 
is  here.  The  country  gave  me  my  education,  and  so  has  a 
right  to  my  military  services."  He  also  declared  that  Mr. 
Greeley  was  wrong  in  his  estimate  of  Lincoln  and  that 
time  would  show  it. 

Lincoln  knew  thoroughly  the  feeling  of  the  radicals  at 
this  time;  he  knew  the  danger  there  was  to  his  hopes  of  a 
second  term  in  opposing  them;  but  he  could  be  neither  per 
suaded  nor  frightened  into  modifying  his  policy.  The  most 
conspicuous  example  of  his  firmness  was  in  the  case  of  the 
Missouri  radicals. 

The  radical  party  in  Missouri  was  composed  of  men  of 
great  intelligence  and  perfect  loyalty;  but  they  were  men  of 
the  Fremont  type,  idealists,  incapable  of  compromise  and 
impatient  of  caution.  They  had  been  in  constant  conflict 
with  the  conservatives  of  the  State  since  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war,  and  by  the  spring  of  1863,  the  rupture  had  become 
almost  a  national  affair.  Both  sides  claimed  to  be  Union 
men  and  to  believe  in  emancipation ;  but  while  the  conserva 
tives  believed  in  gradual  emancipation,  the  radicals  de 
manded  that  it  be  immediate.  The  fight  became  so  bitter 
that,  as  Lincoln  said  to  one  of  the  radicals  who  came  to 
him  early  in  1863,  begging  his  interference:  "  Either  party 
would  rather  see  the  defeat  of  their  adversary  than  that  of 
Jefferson  Davis.  You  ought  to  have  your  heads  knocked  to 
gether,"  he  added  in  his  exasperation. 


LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1864          173 

Finally,  he  determined  that  he  must  break  up  somehow 
what  he  called  their  "  pestilent,  factional  quarrel,"  and  sent 
a  new  military  governor,  General  J.  M.  Schofield,  to  Mis 
souri.  The  advice  he  gave  him  was  this: 

Let  your  military  measures  be  strong  enough  to  repel  the 
invader  and  keep  the  peace,  and  not  so  strong  as  to  unneces 
sarily  harass  and  persecute  the  people.  It  is  a  difficult  role, 
and  so  much  greater  will  be  the  honor  if  you  perform  it  well. 
If  both  factions,  or  neither,  shall  abuse  you,  you  will  prob 
ably  be  about  right.  Beware  of  being  assailed  by  one  and 
praised  by  the  other. 

General  Schofield  was  not  able  to  live  up  to  Lincoln's 
counsel.  He  incurred  the  suspicion  and  dislike  of  the  radi 
cals,  and  they  determined  that  he  must  be  removed.  Sep 
tember  i,  a  great  convention  was  held,  and  a  committee  of 
seventy  persons  was  appointed  to  go  to  Washington  and  de 
mand  from  Mr.  Lincoln  a  redress  of  grievances.  The  con 
vention  of  course  had  the  sympathy  of  the  radical  anti-sla 
very  element  of  the  whole  North  in  its  undertaking,  and 
when  the  Committee  of  Seventy  started  for  Washington  they 
received  an  ovation  in  almost  every  State  through  which  they 
passed.  Arrived  in  Washington,  they  became  the  centre  of 
the  town's  interest,  and  a  great  reception  was  given  them  in 
Union  League  Hall,  at  which  eminent  men  denounced  the 
conservatives  of  Missouri  and  demanded  immediate  emanci 
pation. 

Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  receive  the  Committee  at  once  but 
sent  for  their  Secretary,  Dr.  Emil  Preetorius,  a  leading  Ger 
man  Radical.  Mr.  Preetorius  says : 

"  In  response  to  a  request  from  the  President  himself  I 
immediately,  in  company  with  Senator  '  Jim  '  Lane,  called 
at  the  White  House.  Mr.  Lane  soon  excused  himself  and  left 
me  alone  with  the  President.  I  had  a  long  talk  with  him, 


174  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

explaining  the  situation  in  Missouri,  as  we  Radicals  viewed 
it,  and  stating  just  why  we  had  come  to  Washington.  We 
Germans  had  not  felt  so  kindly  toward  Mr.  Lincoln  since 
he  had  set  aside  Fremont's  proclamation  of  emancipation. 
We  thought  he  had  missed  a  great  opportunity  and  had 
thereby  displayed  a  lack  of  statesmanship.  We  believed  him 
to  be  under  the  influence  of  the  Blair  family.  Now  that  he 
himself  had  issued  an  emancipation  proclamation  we  felt 
wronged  because  it  applied  only  to  the  States  in  rebellion, 
and  not  to  our  own  State.  '  Thus,'  I  said  to  the  President, 
'  you  are  really  punishing  us  for  our  courage  and  patriot 
ism.'  We  felt,  as  Gratz  Brown  expressed  it,  that  we  had  to 
fight  three  administrations — Lincoln's,  Jeff  Davis's,  and  our 
own  Governor  Gamble's.  We  felt  that  we  had  a  right  to 
complain  because  Lincoln  sent  out  to  Missouri  generals  that 
were  not  in  sympathy  with  us. 

"  Our  talk  was  of  the  very  frankest  kind.  Lincoln  said 
he  knew  I  was  a  German  revolutionist  and  expected  me  to 
take  extreme  views.  I  recollect  distinctly  his  statement  that 
he  would  rather  be  a  follower  than  a  leader  of  public  opinion. 
He  had  reference  to  public  opinion  in  the  Border  States. 
'  We  need  the  Border  States,'  said  he.  '  Public  opinion  in 
them  has  not  matured.  We  must  patiently  educate  them  up 
to  the  right  opinion.'  The  situation  at  that  time  was  less 
favorable  in  the  other  Border  States  than  in  Missouri.  Their 
Union  men  had  not  the  strong  fighters  that  Missouri  had. 
As  things  were  then  going,  the  attitude  of  the  Border  States 
was  of  the  very  highest  importance.  I  could  realize  that  the 
more  fully  as  Lincoln  argued  the  case." 

An  arrangement  was  made  for  the  President  to  receive 
the  committee  on  September  30  and  hear  their  statement 
of  grievances.  The  imposing  procession  of  delegates  went 
to  the  White  House  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning.  At  the 
Committee's  own  request,  all  reporters  and  spectators  were 
refused  admission  to  the  audience,  only  the  President  and 
one  of  his  secretaries  meeting  them.  Even  the  great  front 
doors  of  the  White  House  were  locked  during  the  forenoon. 

The  conference  began  by  the  reading  of  an  address  which 


LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1864          175 

denounced  the  conservative  party,  and  demanded  that  Gen 
eral  Schofield  be  removed  and  General  Benjamin  F.  Butler 
be  put  in  his  place,  and  that  the  enrolled  militia  of  the  State 
be  discharged  and  national  troops  replace  them. 

After  the  reading  of  the  address,  the  President  replied. 
Mr.  Enos  Clarke  of  St.  Louis,  who  was  one  of  the  delegates, 
records  the  impression  this  reply  made  upon  his  mind : 

"  The  President  listened  with  patient  attention  to  our  ad 
dress,"  says  Mr.  Clarke,  "  and  at  the  conclusion  of  the  read 
ing  replied  at  length.  I  shall  never  forget  the  intense  chagrin 
and  disappointment  we  all  felt  at  the  treatment  of  the  matter 
in  the  beginning  of  his  reply.  He  seemed  to  belittle  and  min 
imize  the  importance  of  our  grievances  and  to  give  magni 
tude  to  minor  or  unimportant  matters.  He  gave  us  the  im 
pression  -of  a  pettifogger  speaking  before  a  justice  of  the 
peace  jury.  But  as  he  talked  on  and  made  searching  in 
quiries  of  members  of  the  delegation  and  invited  debate,  it 
became  manifest  that  his  manner  at  the  beginning  was  really 
the  foil  of  a  master,  to  develop  the  weakness  of  the  presenta 
tion.  Before  the  conclusion  of  the  conference,  he  addressed 
himself  to  the  whole  matter  in  an  elevated,  dignified,  exhaus 
tive,  and  impressive  manner. 

«"  There  was  no  report  made  of  this  conference,  but  I 
remember  that  Mr.  Lincoln  made  this  statement :  *  You 
gentlemen  must  bear  in  mind  that  in  performing  the  duties 
of  the  office  I  hold  I  must  represent  no  one  section  of  the 
Union,  but  I  must  act  for  all  sections  of  the  Union  in  trying 
to  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  government/  And  he  also 
said  this :  '  I  desire  to  so  conduct  the  affairs  of  this  Admin 
istration  that  if,  at  the  end,  when  I  come  to  lay  down  the 
reins  of  power,  I  have  lost  every  other  friend  on  earth,  I  shall 
at  least  have  one  friend  left,  and  that  friend  shall  be  down  in 
side  of  me/  These  were  characteristic  expressions. 

"  Toward  the  conclusion  of  the  conference  and  after  the 
whole  matter  had  been  exhaustively  discussed  by  the  Presi 
dent  and  the  petitioners,  Mr.  C.  D.  Drake,  our  chairman, 
stepped  forward  and  said : '  Mr.  President,  the  time  has  now 
come  when  we  can  no  longer  trespass  upon  your  attention, 


176  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

but  must  take  leave  of  you ; '  and  in  those  deep,  impressive, 
stentorian  tones  peculiar  to  Mr.  Drake,  he  added,  '  Many  of 
these  men  who  stand  before  }rou  to-day  return  to  inhospit 
able  homes,  where  rebel  sentiments  prevail,  and  many  of 
them,  sir,  in  returning  there  do  so  at  the  risk  of  their  lives, 
and  if  any  of  those  lives  are  sacrificed  by  reason  of  the  mili 
tary  administration  of  this  government,  let  me  tell  you,  sir, 
that  their  blood  will  be  upon  your  garments  and  not  upon 
ours.' 

"  During  this  impressive  address  the  President  stood  be 
fore  the  delegation  with  tears  streaming  down  his  cheeks, 
seeming  deeply  agitated. 

'  The  members  of  the  delegation  were  then  presented  in 
dividually  to  the  President  and  took  leave  of  him.  I  shall 
always  remember  my  last  sight  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  we  left  the 
room.  I  was  withdrawing,  in  company  with  others,  and  as 
I  passed  out  I  chanced  to  look  back.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  met 
some  personal  acquaintances  with  whom  he  was  exchanging 
pleasantries,  and  instead  of  the  tears  of  a  few  moments  be 
fore,  he  was  indulging  in  hearty  laughter.  This  rapid  and 
wonderful  transition  from  one  extreme  to  the  other  im 
pressed  me  greatly." 

Ex-Governor  Johnson  of  Missouri,  another  member  of 
the  committee,  says  of  Lincoln's  reply  to  their  address : 

"  The  President  in  the  course  of  his  reply  hesitated  a  great 
deal  and  was  manifestly,  as  he  said,  very  much  troubled  over 
the  condition  of  affairs  in  Missouri.  He  said  he  was  sorry 
there  should  be  such  divisions  and  dissensions;  that  they 
were  a  source  of  more  anxiety  to  him  than  we  could  imagine. 
He  expressed  his  appreciation  of  the  zeal  of  the  radical  men, 
but  sometimes  thought  they  did  not  understand  the  real  sit 
uation.  He  besought  us  not  to  get  out  of  humor  because 
things  were  not  going  as  rapidly  as  we  thought  they  should. 
The  war,  he  pointed  out,  affected  a  much  larger  territory 
than  that  embraced  within  the  borders  of  Missouri,  and 
possibly  he  had  better  opportunities  of  judging  of  things 
than  some  of  us  gentlemen.  He  spoke  with  great  kindness, 
but  all  the  way  through  showed  his  profound  regret  at  the 


LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1864          177 

condition  of  affairs  in  our  State.  He  regretted  especially 
that  some  of  the  men  who  had  founded  the  Republican  party 
should  now  be  arrayed  apparently  against  his  administra 
tion. 

"  I  had  met  Mr.  Lincoln  twice  before  then.  This  time  he 
appeared  different  from  what  he  had  on  the  two  former  oc 
casions.  There  was  a  perplexed  look  on  his  face.  When  he 
said  he  was  bothered  about  this  thing,  he  showed  it.  He 
spoke  kindly,  yet  now  and  then  there  was  a  little  rasping 
tone  in  his  voice  that  seemed  to  say :  *  You  men  ought  to  fix 
this  thing  up  without  tormenting  me/  But  he  never  lost  his 
temper." 

One  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  secretaries  was  present  at  this  con 
ference  and  made  notes  on  Mr.  Lincoln's  answer  to  the 
delegation.  The  following  sentences  quoted  from  these 
notes  in  Nicolay  and  Hay's  "  Abraham  Lincoln  "  show  still 
further  how  plainly  the  President  dealt  with  the  committee : 

44  Your  ideas  of  justice  seem  to  depend  on  the  application 
of  it." 

f<  When  you  see  a  man  loyally  in  favor  of  the  Union- 
willing  to  vote  men  and  money — spending  his  time  and 
money  and  throwing  his  influence  into  the  recruitment  of 
our  armies,  I  think  it  ungenerous,  unjust,  and  impolitic  to 
make  views  on  abstract  political  questions  a  test  of  his  loy 
alty.  I  will  not  be  a  party  to  this  application  of  a  pocket  in 
quisition. 

'  You  appear  to  come  before  me  as  my  friends,  if  I  agree 
with  you,  and  not  otherwise.  I  do  not  here  speak  of  mere  per 
sonal  friendship.  When  I  speak  of  my  friends  I  mean  those 
who  are  friendly  to  my  measures,  to  the  policy  of  the  Gov 
ernment.  I  am  well  aware  that  by  many,  by  some  even 
among  this  delegation — I  shall  not  name  them — I  have  been 
in  public  speeches  and  in  printed  documents  charged  with 
'  tyranny  and  wilfulness,'  with  a  disposition  to  make  my 
own  personal  will  supreme.  I  do  not  intend  to  be  a  tyrant. 
At  all  events  I  shall  take  care  that  in  my  own  eyes  I  do  not 
become  one." 

(12) 


178  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  sent  the  committee  away,  promising  to 
reply  by  letter  to  their  address.  The  events  of  the  next  day 
showed  him  more  plainly  than  ever  what  a  following  they 
had.  The  night  after  the  conference,  Secretary  Chase  gave 
them  a  great  reception  at  his  house.  He  did  not  hesi 
tate  to  say,  in  the  course  of  the  evening,  that  he  was  heartily 
in  sympathy  with  their  mission  and  that  he  hoped  their 
military  department  would  be  entrusted  to  a  gentleman 
whose  motto  was  "  Freedom  for  all."  Going  on  to  New 
York,  the  committee  were  given  a  great  and  enthusiastic 
meeting  at  Cooper  Union :  William  Cullen  Bryant  made  a 
sympathetic  speech,  and  various  members  of  the  committee 
indulged  in  violent  denunciations  of  the  conservative  ele 
ment  of  the  country,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  threaten  Mr. 
Lincoln  with  revolutionary  action  if  he  did  not  yield  to 
their  demands. 

Mr.  Lincoln  of  course  was  not  insensible  to  the  political 
power  of  the  Missouri  radicals.  He  knew  that  this  was  a 
test  case.  He  knew  that  they  made  their  issue  at  a  critical 
time  for  him,  it  being  the  eve  of  the  fall  elections.  So  im 
portant  did  his  supporters  consider  it  that  he  do  something 
to  pacify  radical  sentiment  that  Mr.  Leonard  Swett,  one  of 
his  most  intimate  friends,  and  one  heartily  in  sympathy  with 
his  policy,  urged  him,  one  day  in  October,  to  take  a  more 
advanced  position  and  recommend  in  his  annual  message  a 
Constitutional  amendment  abolishing  slavery: 

Turning  to  me  suddenly,  he  said,  "  Is  not  the  question  of 
emancipation  doing  well  enough  now  ?  "  I  replied  it  was. 
"  Well,"  said  he,  "  I  have  never  done  an  official  act  with  a 
view  to  promote  my  own  personal  aggrandizement,  and  I 
don't  like  to  begin  now.  I  can  see  that  emancipation  is 
coming ;  whoever  can  wait  for  it  will  see  it ;  whoever  stands 
in  its  way  will  be  run  over  by  it." 

In  spite  of  the  pressure  and  threats  of  the  Committee  of 


LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1864          179 

Seventy,  Lincoln,  when  he  answered  their  letter  on  October 
5,  yielded  to  none  of  their  demands.  He  would  not  re 
move  Genera!  Schofield.  He  would  not  discharge  the  en 
rolled  militia. 

He  repeated  that  they  were  acting  as  factionists,  declared 
that  they  had  failed  to  convince  him  that  General  Schofield 
and  the  enrolled  militia  which  they  charged  caused  the  suf 
fering  of  the  Union  party  in  the  State  were  responsible,  and 
in  a  few  remarkable  paragraphs  described  what  in  his 
opinion  was  the  cause  of  the  trouble  in  Missouri : 

We  are  in  civil  war.  In  such  cases  there  always  is  a 
main  question ;  but  in  this  case  that  question  is  a  perplexing 
compound — Union  and  slavery.  It  thus  becomes  a  question 
not  of  two  sides  merely,  but  of  at  least  four  sides,  even  among 
those  who  are  for  the  Union,  saying  nothing  of  those  who  are 
against  it.  Thus,  those  who  are  for  the  Union  with,  but  not 
without  slavery — those  for  it  without,  but  not  with — those  for 
it  with  or  without,  but  prefer  it  with — and  those  for  it  with 
or  without,  but  prefer  it  without. 

Among  these  again  is  a  subdivision  of  those  who  are 
for  gradual,  but  not  for  immediate,  and  those  who  are  for 
immediate,  but  not  for  gradual  extinction  of  slavery.  It  is 
easy  to  conceive  that  all  these  shades  of  opinion,  and  even 
more,  may  be  sincerely  entertained  by  honest  and  truthful 
men.  Yet,  all  being  for  the  Union,  by  reason  of  these  differ 
ences  each  will  prefer  a  different  way  of  sustaining  the 
Union.  At  once  sincerity  is  questioned  and  motives  are  as 
sailed.  Actual  war  coming,  blood  grows  hot,  and  blood  is 
spilled.  Thought  is  forced  from  old  channels  into  confusion. 
Deception  breeds  and  thrives.  Confidence  dies  and 
universal  suspicion  reigns.  Each  man  feels  an  impulse 
to  kill  his  neighbor,  lest  he  be  first  killed  by  him.  Revenge 
and  retaliation  follow.  And  all  this,  as  before  said,  may 
be  amongst  honest  men  only;  but  this  is  not  all.  Every 
foul  bird  comes  abroad  and  every  dirty  reptile  rises  up. 
These  add  crime  to  confusion.  Strong  measures  deemed 
indispensable,  but  harsh  at  best,  such  men  make  worse 
by  maladministration.  Mulders  for  old  grudges,  and  mur- 


l8o  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

ders  for  pelf,  proceed  under  any  cloak  that  will  best  cover 
for  the  occasion.  These  causes  amply  account  for  what  has 
occurred  in  Missouri,  without  ascribing  it  to  the  weakness  or 
wickedness  of  any  general. 

He  closed  his  letter  refusing  their  requests  with  a  few  of 
those  resolute  sentences  of  which  he  was  capable  when  he 
had  made  up  his  mind  to  do  a  thing  in  spite  of  all  opposition : 

I  do  not  feel  justified  to  enter  upon  the  broad  field  you 
present  in  regard  to  the  political  differences  between 
Radicals  and  Conservatives.  From  time  to  time  I  have 
done  and  said  what  appeared  to  me  proper  to  do  and  say. 
The  public  knows  it  all.  It  obliged  nobody  to  follow  me, 
and  I  trust  it  obliges  me  to  follow  nobody.  The  Radicals 
and  Conservatives  each  agree  with  me  in  some  things  and 
disagree  in  others.  I  could  wish  both  to  agree  with  me  in  all 
things,  for  then  they  would  agree  with  each  other  and 
would  be  too  strong  for  any  foe  from  any  quarter.  They, 
however,  choose  to  do  otherwise ;  and  I  do  not  question  their 
right.  I  too  shall  do  what  seems  to  be  my  duty.  I  hold 
whoever  commands  in  Missouri  or  elsewhere  responsible  to 
me  and  not  to  either  Radicals  or  Conservatives.  It  is  my 
duty  to  bear  all,  but  at  last  I  must  within  my  sphere,  judge 
what  to  do  and  what  to  forbear. 

There  was  no  mistaking  this  letter  of  Lincoln.  It  told 
the  radicals  not  only  of  Missouri,  but  of  the  whole  North, 
that  the  President  was  not  to  be  moved  from  his  emancipa 
tion  policy. 

Another  complaint  which  many  Republicans  as  well  as  all 
Democrats  made  against  Mr.  Lincoln  in  1864,  was  his  inter 
pretation  of  what  constituted  treason  against  the  govern 
ment.  Their  dissatisfaction  culminated  in  what  is  known  as 
the  Vallandigham  case.  Mr.  Vallandigham  was  an  Ohio 
Democrat  of  the  Copperhead  variety  who,  from  the  begin 
ning  had  opposed  the  war,  although  declaring  himself  for  the 
Union.  In  the  spring  of  1863  his  attacks  on  the  administra 


LINCOLN'S  REELECTION  IN  1864          181 

tion  were  particularly  virulent.  He  accused  the  government 
of  not  being  willing  to  meet  the  Confederacy  and  arrange  a 
peace,  of  being  unconstitutional  in  enforcing  the  draft  and  of 
making  arbitrary  military  arrests  and  imprisonments.  The 
party  which  he  represented  seemed  to  be  growing  in  influence 
every  day,  and  it  was  known  that  the  efficiency  of  the  army  in 
the  winter  of  1862-63  had  been  seriously  undermined  by  the 
influence  of  the  Copperhead  element  at  home.  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  opposed  to  noticing  any  opposition  of  this  kind  unless 
driven  to  it,  but  not  all  of  his  subordinates  felt  the  same 
way.  Some  of  the  generals  in  the  army  were  especially  in 
censed  by  it,  among  them  General  Burnside,  then  at  the 
head  of  the  Department  of  the  Ohio,  who,  on  April  13, 
1863,  issued  an  order  in  which  he  said: 

"  The  habit  of  declaring  sympathies  for  the  enemy  will 
not  be  allowed  in  this  department.  Persons  committing 
such  offenses  will  be  at  once  arrested  with  a  view  to  being 
tried  as  above  stated  or  sent  beyond  our  lines  into  the  lines 
of  their  friends. 

"  It  must  be  distinctly  understood  that  treason  expressed 
or  implied  will  not  be  tolerated  in  this  department." 

Mr.  Vallandigham  was  angered  by  this  order  and  in  public 
addresses  declared  it  a  "  base  usurpation  of  arbitrary  author 
ity,"  which  he  should  resist.  General  Burnside  retaliated 
by  ordering  Vallandigham's  arrest  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  after  a 
public  address  in  which  he  had  declared  among  other  things 
that  the  present  war  was  a  "  wicked,  cruel  and  unnecessary 
war;  "  "a  war  not  being  waged  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Union;  "  "  a  war  for  the  purpose  of  crushing  out  liberty  and 
erecting  a  despotism;  "  "  a  war  for  the  freedom  of  the  blacks 
and  the  enslavement  of  the  white;"  stating  "  that  if  the  Ad 
ministration  had  so  wished  the  war  could  have  been  honor 
ably  terminated  tnonths  ago ;  "  that  "  peace  mig^ht  have  been 


1 82  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

honorably  obtained  by  listening  to  the  proposed  intermedia 
tion  of  France,"  etc.,  etc. 

Vallandigham  was  tried  soon  after  arrest  by  a  military 
commission,  pronounced  guilty  and  sentenced  to  "  close  con 
finement  in  some  fortress  of  the  United  States."  The  arrest, 
the  trial  by  military  instead  of  by  civil  court,  the  sentence, 
aroused  a  tremendous  outcry  throughout  the  country.  The 
best  newspapers,  including  the  New  York  "  Evening  Post " 
and  the  New  York  "  Tribune  "  condemned  the  government. 
Protests  and  applications  for  his  release  poured  in  upon  the 
President. 

It  is  probable  that  Mr.  Lincoln  regretted  the  arrest  of  Val 
landigham,  for  he  wrote  Burnside  afterward:  "All  the 

Cabinet  regret  the  necessity  of  arresting 

Vallandigham,  some  perhaps  doubting  there  was  a  real 
necessity  for  it;  but,  being  done,  all  were  for  seeing  you 
through  with  it."  Lincoln  had,  however,  no  idea  of  releas 
ing  Vallandigham.  His  one  concern  was  to  prevent  the 
prisoner  appearing  to  the  country  as  a  martyr  for  liberty, 
the  victim  of  tyranny,  and,  taking  the  hint  from  Burn- 
side's  order  he  directed  that  "  the  prisoner  be  put  beyond 
our  military  lines,"  that  is,  that  he  be  sent  over  to  the  Con 
federates.  General  Burnside  objected  to  this.  His  earnest 
ness  had  so  blinded  his  sense  of  humor  that  he  did  not  see 
that  this  disposition  of  the  prisoner  would  take  away  much 
of  the  sympathy  and  dignity  which  must  always  attend  the 
tragedy  of  close  confinement.  Mr.  Lincoln  insisted,  and 
finally  Vallandigham,  attended  only  by  a  military  escort, 
was  secretly  conducted  under  a  flag  of  truce  within  the  lines 
of  the  Confederate  general,  Braxton  Bragg. 

There  was  nothing  heroic  about  this  turn  in  the  affair. 
Vallandigham  protested  vehemently  that  he  was  not  a  sym 
pathizer  of  the  South,  that  he  was  for  the  Union.  The  Con- 
federates  were  as  disgusted  as  the  prisoner.  Mr.  Lincoln, 


LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1864          183 

they  said  to  one  another,  intends  to  make  a  Botany  Bay  of 
the  Confederacy.  The  Confederate  Secretary  of  War  wrote 
General  Bragg  in  a  rather  irritable  tone  that  it  was  clearly  an 
abuse  of  the  flag  of  truce  to  employ  it  to  cover  a  guard  over 
expelled  citizens,  non-combatants.  An  old  friend  of  Val- 
landigham  in  Virginia  offered  the  government  to  give  him  a 
home  if  he  desired  to  remain  in  the  Confederacy,  but  both 
Vallandigham  and  the  Confederates  saw  the  absurdity  of  the 
situation  and  desired  only  that  it  be  changed  as  quickly  as  pos 
sible.  Considerable  correspondence  passed  between  the  pris 
oner  and  the  authorities  with  the  result  that  on  June  2,  Jeffer 
son  Davis  ordered  General  Bragg  to  send  Vallandigham, 
as  an  alien  enemy,  under  guard  of  an  officer,  to  Wilmington, 
and  the  Secretary  of  War  wrote  to  the  commissioner  hav 
ing  the  prisoner  in  charge,  the  following  directions : 

It  is  not  the  desire  or  purpose  of  this  govern 
ment  to  treat  this  victim  of  unjust  and  arbitrary  power  with 
other  than  lenity  and  consideration,  but  as  an  alien  enemy  he 
cannot  be  received  to  friendly  hospitality  or  allowed  a  con 
tinued  refuge  in  freedom  in  our  midst.  This  is  due  alike 
to  our  safety  and  to  him  in  his  acknowledged  position  as  an 
enemy.  You  have  therefore  been  charged  with  the  duty, 
not  inappropriate  to  the  commission  you  hold  in  relation  to 
prisoners,  etc.,  of  meeting  him  in  Lynchburg,  and  there  as 
suming  direction  and  control  of  his  future  movements.  He 
must  be  regarded  by  you  as  under  arrest,  permitted,  unless 
in  your  discretion  you  deem  it  necessary  to  revoke  the  privi 
lege  to  be  at  large  on  his  parole  not  to  attempt  to  escape  nor 
hereafter  to  reveal  to  the  prejudice  of  the  Confederate  States 
anything  he  may  see  or  learn  while  therein.  You  will  see 
that  he  is  not  molested  or  assailed  or  unduly  intruded  upon, 
and  extend  to  him  the  attentions  and  kind  treatment  consist 
ent  with  his  relations  as  an  alien  enemy.  After  a  reason 
able  delay  with  him  at  Lynchburg,  to  allow  rest  and  recrea 
tion  from  the  fatigues  of  his  recent  exposure  and  travel,  you 
will  proceed  with  him  to  Wilmington,  N.  C,  and  there  de- 


1 84  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

liver  him  to  the  charge  of  Major-General  Whiting,  com 
manding  in  that  district,  by  whom  he  will  be  allowed  at  an 
early  convenient  opportunity  to  take  shipping  for  any  neutral 
port  he  may  prefer,  whether  in  Europe,  the  Islands,  or  on 
this  Continent.  More  full  instructions  on  this  point  will  be 
given  to  General  Whiting,  and  your  duty  will  be  discharged 
when  you  shall  have  conducted  Mr.  Vallandigham  to  Wil 
mington  and  placed  him  at  the  disposition  of  that  com 
mander. 

These  directions  were  carried  out  and  Vallandigham 
sailed  for  Bermuda  and  thence  for  Halifax.  August  27  the 
Provost-Marshal-General  was  notified  that  he  was  at  Wind 
sor,  opposite  Detroit. 

Although  Lincoln,  by  his  adroit  disposition  of  Vallandig 
ham  had  taken  much  of  the  dignity  out  of  his  position,  his 
supporters  were  determined  to  make  the  matter  an  issue, 
and  on  May  19  the  New  York  Democrats,  and  again  on 
June  26,  the  Ohio  Democrats,  while  urging  their  loyalty  to 
the  Union  protested  against  the  arrest,  and  called  upon  the 
President  to  restore  the  exile  to  his  home.  Such  arrests  and 
trials  as  his  were,  they  declared,  contrary  to  the  Constitu 
tion,  a  violation  of  the  right  of  free  speech  and  the  right 
to  a  fair  trial.  On  June  12  and  June  29,  Lincoln  replied 
respectively  to  these  protests  in  a  couple  of  letters  in  which 
he  defended  his  course.  Only  the  briefest  extract  can  be 
given  here,  but  they  show  the  clearness  and  boldness  of  his 
argument. 

The  resolutions  promise  to  support  me  in 
every  constitutional  and  lawful  measure  to  suppress  the  re 
bellion;  and  I  have  not  knowingly  employed,  nor  shall 
knowingly  employ,  any  other.  But  the  meeting,  by  their 
resolutions  assert  and  argue  that  certain  military  arrests,  and 
proceedings  following  them,  for  which  I  am  ultimately  re 
sponsible,  are  unconstitutional.  I  think  they  are  not* 


LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1864          185 

"  .  .  .  he  who  dissuades  one  man  from  volunteering, 
or  induces  one  soldier  to  desert,  weakens  the  Union  cause 
as  much  as  he  who  kills  a  Union  soldier  in  battle.  Yet  this 
dissuasion  or  inducement  may  be  so  conducted  as  to  be  no 
defined  crime  of  which  any  civil  court  would  take  cogni 
zance. 

"  Ours  is  a  case  of  rebellion — so  called  by  the  resolutions 
before  me — in  fact,  a  clear,  flagrant,  and  gigantic  case  of 
rebellion;  and  the  provision  of  the  Constitution  that,  'the 
privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended 
unless  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public 
safety  may  require  it,'  is  the  provision  which  specially  ap 
plies  to  our  present,  case. 

•  ••••••• 

"  Mr.  Vallandigham  avows  his  hostility  to  the  war  on  the 
part  of  the  Union ;  and  his  arrest  was  made  because  he  wras 
laboring,  with  some  effect,  to  prevent  the  raising  of  troops, 
to  encourage  desertions  from  the  army,  and  to  leave  the  re 
bellion  without  an  adequate  military  force  to  suppress  it. 
He  was  not  arrested  because  he  was  damaging  the  political 
prospects  of  the  administration  or  the  personal  interests  of 
the  commanding  general,  but  because  he  was  damaging  the 
army,  upon  the  existence  and  vigor  of  which  the  life  of  the 
nation  depends.  He  was  warring  upon  the  military,  and 
this  gave  the  military  constitutional  jurisdiction  to  lay 
hands  upon  him.  If  Mr.  Vallandingham  was  not  damaging 
the  military  power  of  the  country,  then  his  arrest  was  made 
on  mistake  of  fact,  which  I  would  be  glad  to  correct  on  rea 
sonably  satisfactory  evidence. 

"  I  understand  the  meeting  whose  resolutions  I  am  con 
sidering  to  be  in  favor  of  suppressing  the  rebellion  by  mili 
tary  force — by  armies.  Long  experience  has  shown  that 
armies  cannot  be  maintained  unless  desertion  shall  be  pun 
ished  by  the  severe  penalty  of  death.  The  case  requires,  and 
the  law  and  the  Constitution  sanction,  this  punishment. 

"  If  I  be  wrong  on  this  question  of  constitutional  power, 
my  error  lies  in  believing  that  certain  proceedings  are  con 
stitutional  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public 


1 86  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

« 

safety  requires  them,  which  would  not  be  constitutional 
when,  in  absence  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety 
does  not  require  them;  in  other  words,  that  the  Constitu 
tion  is  not  in  its  application  in  all  respects  the  same  in  cases 
of  rebellion  or  invasion  involving  the  public  safety,  as  it  is 
in  times  of  profound  peace  and  public  security.  The  Con 
stitution  itself  makes  the  distinction,  and  I  can  no  more  be 
persuaded  that  the  government  can  constitutionally  take  no 
strong  measures  in  time  of  rebellion,  because  it  can  be  shown 
that  the  same  could  not  be  lawfully  taken  in  time  of  peace, 
than  I  can  be  persuaded  that  a  particular  drug  is  not  good 
medicine  for  a  sick  man  because  it  can  be  shown  to  not  be 
good  food  for  a  well  one.  Nor  am  I  able  to  appreciate  the 
danger  apprehended  by  the  meeting,  that  the  American  peo 
ple  will  by  means  of  military  arrests  during  the  rebellion  lose 
the  right  of  public  discussion,  the  liberty  of  speech  and  the 
press,  the  law  of  evidence,  trial  by  jury,  and  habeas  corpus 
throughout  the  indefinite  peaceful  future  which  I  trust  lies 
before  them,  any  more  than  I  am  able  to  believe  that  a  man 
could  contract  so  strong  an  appetite  for  emetics  during  tem 
porary  illness  as  to  persist  in  feeding  upon  them  during  the 
remainder  of  his  healthful  life." 

The  Democrats  called  the  letter  despotic,  but  the  people 
saw  the  sound  sense  of  the  arguments,  and  when  in  the  fall 
Vallandigham,  still  in  exile,  was  run  for  Governor  of  Ohio, 
he  was  defeated  by  over  100,000  votes.  When  a  few  months 
later  he  dared  the  President,  came  back  and  began  to  make 
violent  speeches,  no  attention  was  paid  to  him.  The  right 
of  the  President  to  suppress  any  man  who  hurt  the  army  and 
thus  the  Union  cause  was  clearly  fixed  in  the  people's  mind. 
If  anybody  wavered,  Lincoln's  letters  were  brought  out. 
Vallandigham  henceforth  rather  helped  than  injured  the 
President. 

The  first  effect  of  Lincoln's  resolution  in  enforcing  his 
own  policy  was  to  stimulate  the  search  his  opponents  were 
making  for  a  man  to  put  in  his  place.  At  that  time — the 
fall  of  1863 — Grant  was  the  military  hero  ^f  the  country, 


LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1864          187 

and  his  name  began  to  be  urged  for  the  Presidency.  Now 
Lincoln  had  never  seen  Grant.  Was  he  a  man  whose  head 
could  be  turned  by  a  sudden  notoriety?  Could  it  be  that, 
just  as  he  had  found  the  commander  for  whom  he  had 
searched  so  long,  he  was  to  lose  him  through  a  burst  of 
popular  gratitude  and  hero-worship?  He  decided  to  find 
out  Grant's  feeling.  He  did  this  through  Mr.  J.  Russell 
Jones  of  Chicago,  a  friend  of  the  General. 

"  In  1863,"  says  Mr.  Jones,  "  some  of  the  newspapers, 
especially  the  New  York  '  Herald/  were  trying  to  boom 
Grant  for  the  Presidency.*  While  General  Grant  was  at 
Chattanooga,  I  wrote  him,  in  substance,  that  I  did  not  wish 
to  meddle  with  his  affairs,  but  that  I  could  not  resist  suggest 
ing  that  he  pay  no  attention  to  what  the  newspapers  were 
saying  in  that  connection.  He  immediately  replied,  saying 
that  everything  of  that  nature  which  reached  him  went  into 
the  waste-basket;  that  he  felt  he  had  as  big  a  job  on  hand  as 
one  man  need  desire ;  that  his  only  ambition  was  to  suppress 
the  rebellion ;  and  that,  even  if  he  had  a  desire  to  be  Presi 
dent,  he  could  not  possibly  entertain  the  thought  of  becoming 
a  candidate  for  the  office,  nor  of  accepting  a  nomination  were 
one  tendered  him,  so  long  as  there  was  a  possibility  of  keep 
ing  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  presidential  chair.  The  whole  spirit 
of  his  letter  was  one  of  the  most  perfect  devotion  to  Lin 
coln. 

"  Before  this  letter  reached  me,  however,  President  Lin 
coln  telegraphed  me  to  come  to  Washington.  The  telegram 
gave  no  hint  of  the  business  upon  which  he  wished  to  see  me, 
and  I  had  no  information  upon  which  to  found  even  a  sus 
picion  of  its  nature.  On  my  way  to  the  train  I  stopped  at 
my  office,  in  the  postoffice  building,  and  in  passing  my  box 
in  the  postoffice  I  opened  it  and  took  out  several  letters.  I 
put  them  into  my  pocket,  and  did  not  look  at  them  until  after 
I  had  gotten  aboard  the  train.  I  then  discovered  that  one  of 
the  letters  was  from  General  Grant ;  it  was  the  letter  of  which 


*The   "Herald"   published    its    first  editorial  advocating  Grant  on 
December  is,  1863.    It  was  headed,  "  Grant  as  the  People's  Candidate." 


1 88  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

!  have  already  spoken.    The  circumstance  has  always  seemed 
to  me  to  have  been  providential. 

"  Upon  my  arrival  at  Washington,  I  sent  word  to  the 
President  that  I  had  arrived  and  would  be  glad  to  call  when 
ever  it  was  most  convenient  and  agreeable  for  him  to  receive 
me.  He  sent  back  a  request  for  me  to  call  that  evening  at 
eight  o'clock.  I  went  to  the  White  House  at  that  hour. 

"  When  the  President  had  gotten  through  with  the  per 
sons  with  whom  he  was  engaged,  I  was  invited  into  his 
room.  The  President  then  gave  directions  to  say  to  all  that 
he  was  engaged  for  the  evening.  Mr.  Lincoln  opened  the 
conversation  by  saying  that  he  was  anxious  to  see  somebody 
from  the  West  with  whom  he  could  talk  upon  the  general 
situation  and  had  therefore  sent  for  me.  Mr.  Lincoln  made 
no  allusion  whatever  to  Grant.  I  had  been  there  but  a  few 
minutes,  however,  when  I  fancied  he  would  like  to  talk  about 
Grant,  and  I  interrupted  him  by  saying : 

'  'Mr.  President,  if  you  will  excuse  me  for  interrupting 
you,  I  want  to  ask  you  kindly  to  read  a  letter  that  I  got  from 
my  box  as  I  was  on  my  way  to  the  train/ 

"  Whereupon  I  gave  him  Grant's  letter.  He  read  it  with 
evident  interest.  When  he  came  to  the  part  where  Grant  said 
that  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  think  of  the  presidency 
as  long  as  there  was  a  possibility  of  retaining  Mr.  Lincoln  in 
the  office,  he  read  no  further,  but  arose  and,  approaching  me, 
put  his  hand  on  my  shoulder  and  said : 

1  My  son,  you  will  never  know  how  gratifying  that  is  to 
me.  No  man  knows,  when  that  presidential  grub  gets  to 
gnawing  at  him,  just  how  deep  it  will  get  until  he  has  tried 
it;  and  I  didn't  know  but  what  there  was  one  gnawing  at 
Grant/ 

"  The  fact  was  that  this  was  just  what  Mr.  Lincoln  wanted 
to  know.  He  had  said  to  Congressman  Washburne,  as  I  af 
terwards  ascertained : 

"  '  About  all  I  know  of  Grant  I  have  got  from  you.  I  have 
never  seen  him.  Who  else  besides  you  knows  anything  about 
Grant?' 

"  Washburne  replied : 

"  *  I  know  very  little  about  him.  He  is  my  townsman,  but 
I  never  saw  very  much  of  him.  The  only  man  who  really 


LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1864          180 

knows  Grant  is  Jones.  He  has  summered  and  wintered  with 
him.'  (This  was  an  allusion  to  the  winter  I  spent  with  Grant 
in  Mississippi,  at  the  time  Van  Dorn  got  into  Holly 
Springs.) 

"  It  was  this  statement  of  Washburne's  which  caused  Lin 
coln  to  telegraph  me  to  come  to  Washington." 

But  there  were  other  names  than  Grant's  in  the  mouth  of 
the  opposition.  All  through  the  winter  of  1863-1864,  in 
fact,  the  great  majority  of  the  Republican  leaders  were  dis 
cussing  different  candidates.  One  of  the  men  whom  they 
approached  was  the  Vice-President,  Hannibal  Hamlin.  He 
was  a  man  of  strong  anti-slavery  feeling,  and  it  was  well 
known  that  Lincoln  never  had  gone  fast  enough  to  suit  him. 
Would  he  accept  the  candidacy  ?  he  was  asked.  Mr.  Hamlin 
would  not  listen  to  the  suggestion.  Lincoln,  he  said,  was  his 
friend.  Their  views  were  not  always  the  same,  but  he  be 
lieved  in  Lincoln,  and  would  not  be  untrue  to  his  official  re 
lation.  Not  every  member  of  the  official  family,  however, 
had  the  same  sense  of  loyalty.  Indeed,  before  the  end  of 
1863,  an  active  campaign  for  the  nomination  was  being  con 
ducted  by  one  of  the  members  of  the  cabinet,  Mr.  Chase, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

Mr.  Chase  had  been  a  rival  of  Lincoln  in  1860.  He  had 
gone  into  the  cabinet  with  a  feeling  very  like  that  of  Mr. 
Seward,  that  Lincoln  was  an  inexperienced  man,  incapable 
of  handling  the  situation,  and  that  he  or  Mr.  Seward  would 
be  the  premier.  Mr  Seward  soon  found  that  Lincoln  was 
the  master,  and  he  was  great  enough  to  acknowledge  the  su 
premacy.  But  Mr.  Chase  was  never  able  to  realize  Lincoln's 
greatness.  He  continued  to  regard  him  as  an  inferior  mind, 
and  seemed  to  believe,  honestly  enough,  that  the  people 
would  prefer  himself  as  President  if  they  could  only  have 
an  opportunity  to  vote  for  him.  All  through  the  winter  of 
1863-1864  he  carried  on  a  voluminous  private  correspond-* 


190  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

ence  in  the  interests  of  his  nomination,  and  about  the  middle 
of  the  winter  he  consented  that  his  name  be  submitted  to  the 
people.  The  first  conspicuous  effort  to  promote  his  can 
didacy  was  a  circular  marked  "  confidential/'  sent  out  in 
February  1864,  by  Senator  Pomeroy  of  Kansas,  calling  on 
the  country  to  organize  in  behalf  of  Mr.  Chase.  The  Secre 
tary  hastened  to  assure  Mr.  Lincoln  that  he  knew  nothing  of 
this  circular  until  he  saw  it  in  the  newspapers,  but  he  con 
fessed  that  he  had  consented  that  his  name  be  used  as  a  presi 
dential  candidate,  and  said  that  if  Mr.  Lincoln  felt  that  this 
impaired  his  usefulness  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  he  did 
not  wish  to  continue  in  his  position. 

Lincoln  had  known  for  many  months  of  Mr.  Chase's 
anxiety  for  the  nomination,  but  he  had  studiously  ignored 
it.  He  could  not  be  persuaded  by  anybody  to  do  anything 
to  interrupt  Mr.  Chase's  electioneering.  Now  that  the  Sec 
retary  had  called  his  attention  to  the  matter  of  the  circular, 
however,  he  replied  courteously,  though  indifferently : 

"  .  .  .  My  knowledge  of  Mr.  Pomeroy's  letter  having 
been  made  public  came  to  me  only  the  day  you  wrote;  but  I 
had,  in  spite  of  myself,  known  of  its  existence  several  days 
before.  I  have  not  yet  read  it,  and  I  think  I  shall  not.  I 
was  not  shocked  or  surprised  by  the  appearance  of  the  letter, 
because  I  had  had  knowledge  of  Mr.  Pomeroy's  committee, 
and  of  secret  issues  which,  I  supposed  came  from  it,  and  of 
secret  agents  who  I  supposed  were  sent  out  by  it,  for  sev 
eral  weeks.  I  have  known  just  as  little  of  these  things  as 
my  friends  have  allowed  me  to  know.  They  bring  the  docu 
ments  to  me,  but  I  do  not  read  them ;  they  tell  me  what  they 
think  fit  to  tell  me,  but  I  do  not  inquire  for  more.  .  .  . 

"  Whether  you  shall  remain  at  the  head  of  the  Treasury 
Department  is  a  question  which  I  will  not  allow  myself  to 
consider  from  any  standpoint  other  than  my  judgment  of  the 
public  service,  and,  in  that  view,  I  do  not  perceive  occasion 
for  a  change." 


LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1864          191 

Mr.  Chase  was  free,  as  far  as  Lincoln  was  concerned,  to 
conduct  his  presidential  campaign  from  his  seat  in  the  cabi 
net.  But  the  Republicans  of  his  State  were  not  willing  that 
he  should  do  so,  and  three  days  after  the  Pomeroy  circular 
first  appeared  in  print,  the  Union  members  of  the  legislature 
demanded,  in  the  name  of  the  people  and  of  the  soldiers  of 
Ohio,  that  Lincoln  be  renominated.  There  was  nothing  to 
do  then  but  for  Mr.  Chase  to  withdraw. 

Indeed,  it  was  already  becoming  evident  to  Lincoln's  most 
determined  antagonists  in  the  party  that  it  would  be  useless 
for  them  to  try  to  nominate  anybody  else.  On  all  sides — in 
State  legislatures,  Union  leagues,  caucuses — the  people  were 
demanding  that  Lincoln  be  renominated.  The  case  was  a 
curious  one.  Four  years  before,  Lincoln  had  been  nominated 
for  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States  because  he  was  an 
available  candidate,  not  from  any  general  confidence  that  he 
was  the  best  man  in  the  Republican  party  for  the  place. 
Now,  on  the  contrary,  it  was  declared  that  he  would  have  to 
be  nominated  because  he  had  won  the  confidence  of  the 
people  so  completely  that  no  candidate  would  have  any 
chance  against  him.  In  four  years  he  had  risen  from  a  posi 
tion  of  comparative  obscurity  to  be  the  most  generally 
trusted  man  in  the  North.  The  great  reason  for  this  confi 
dence  was  that  the  people  understood  exactly  what  he  was 
trying  to  do  and  why  he  was  trying  to  do  it.  From  the  be 
ginning  of  his  Administration,  in  fact,  Lincoln  had  taken 
the  people  into  his  confidence.  Whenever  a  strong  opposi 
tion  to  his  policy  developed  in  any  quarter,  it  was  his  habit 
to  explain  in  a  public  letter  exactly  why  he  was  doing  what 
he  was  doing,  and  why  he  was  not  doing  the  thing  he  was 
urged  to  do.  He  had  written  such  a  letter  to  Greeley  in 
August,  1862,  explaining  his  view  of  the  relation  of  emanci 
pation  to  the  war;  such  were  his  letters  in  June,  1863,  reply 
ing  to  the  Democrats  of  New  York  and  Ohio  who  protested 


192  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

against  the  arrest  of  Vallandigham  for  treasonable  speech; 
such  his  letter  to  James  C.  Conkling  in  August,  1863,  ex 
plaining  his  views  of  peace,  of  emancipation,  of  colored 
troops.  These  public  letters  are  Lincoln's  most  remarkable 
state  papers.  They  are  invincible  in  their  logic  and  incom 
parable  in  their  simplicity  and  lucidity  of  expression.  By 
means  of  them  he  convinced  the  people  of  his  own  rigid 
mental  honesty,  put  reasons  for  his  actions  into  their  mouths, 
gave  them  explanations  which  were  demonstrations.  They 
believed  in  him  because  he  had  been  frank  with  them,  and 
because  he  tried  to  make  matters  so  clear  to  them,  used 
words  they  could  understand,  kept  the  principle  free  from  all 
non-essential  and  partisan  considerations. 

Scarcely  less  important  than  these  letters  in  convincing  the 
people  of  the  wisdom  of  his  policy  were  Lincoln's  stories  and 
sayings.  In  February,  1864,  just  after  the  popular  demand 
for  his  renomination  began  to  develop,  the  New  York 
"  Evening  Post "  published  some  two  columns  of  Lincoln's 
stories.  The  New  York  "  Herald  "  jeered  at  the  collection 
as  the  "  first  electioneering  document  "  of  the  campaign,  and 
reprinted  them  as  a  proof  of  the  unfitness  of  Lincoln  for  the 
presidency.  But  jeer  as  it  would,  the  "  Herald  "  could  not 
hide  from  its  readers  the  wit  and  the  philosophy  of  the  jokes. 
Every  one  of  them  had  been  used  to  explain  a  point  or  to  set 
tle  a  question,  and  under  their  laughter  was  concealed  some 
of  the  man's  soundest  reasoning.  Indeed,  at  that  very  mo 
ment  the  "  Herald  "  might  have  seen,  if  it  had  been  more  dis 
cerning,  that  it  was  a  Lincoln  saying  going  up  and  down  the 
country  that  was  serving  as  one  the  strongest  arguments  for 
his  renomination,  the  remark  that  it  is  never  best  to  swap 
horses  in  crossing  a  stream.  Lincoln  had  used  it  in  speaking 
of  the  danger  of  changing  Presidents  in  the  middle  of  the 
war.  He  might  have  written  a  long  message  on  the  value 
of  experience  in  a  national  crisis,  and  it  would  have  been 


LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1864          193 

meaningless  to  the  masses ;  but  this  homely  figure  o.  swap 
ping  horses  in  the  middle  of  the  stream  appealed  to  their  hu 
mor  and  their  common  sense.  It  was  repeated  over  and  over 
in  the  newspapers  of  the  country.  It  was  in  every  man's 
mouth,  and  was  of  inestimable  value  in  helping  plain  people 
to  see  the  danger  of  changing  Presidents  while  the  war  was 
going  on. 

The  Union  convention  was  set  for  June.  As  the  time  ap 
proached,  Lincoln  enthusiasm  grew.  It  was  fed  by  Grant's 
steady  beating  back  of  Lee  toward  Richmond.  The  country, 
wild  with  joy,  cried  out  that  before  July  Grant  would  be  in 
the  Confederate  capital  and  the  war  would  be  ended.  The 
opposition  to  Lincoln  that  had  worked  so  long  steadily  dwin 
dled  in  the  face  of  military  success,  until  all  of  which  it  was 
capable  was  a  small  convention  in  May,  in  Cleveland,  at 
which  Fremont  was  nominated. 

The  Union  convention  met  in  June.  That  it  would  nomi 
nate  Lincoln  was  a  foregone  conclusion.  "  The  convention 
has  no  candidate  to  choose,"  said  the  Philadelphia  "  Press." 
"  Choice  is  forbidden  it  by  the  previous  action  of  the  people." 
The  preliminary  work  of  the  convention,  seating  delegates 
and  framing  a  platform,  was  rapidly  disposed  of.  Then  on 
June  8,  after  a  skirmish  about  the  method  of  nominating 
the  candidates,  Illinois  presented  the  name  of  Abraham  Lin 
coln.  A  call  of  States  was  immediately  taken.  One  after 
another  they  answered:  Pennsylvania  for  Lincoln,  New 
York  for  Lincoln,  New  England  solid  for  him,  Kentucky 
solid,  and  so  on  through  the  thirty  States  and  Territories 
represented;  only  one  dissenting  delegation  in  the  entire 
thirty:  Missouri,  whose  radical  Union  representatives  gave 
twenty-two  votes  for  Grant.  On  the  second  reading  of  the 
vote  this  ballot  was  changed,  so  that  the  final  vote  stood  506 
for  Lincoln. 

The  President  took  his  renomination  calmly.  "  I  do  not 
(-3) 


194  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

allow  myself  to  suppose/*  he  said  to  a  delegation  from  the 
National  Union  League  which  came  to  congratulate  him, 
"  that  either  the  convention  or  the  League  have  concluded  to 
decide  that  I  am  either  the  greatest  or  best  man  in  America, 
but  rather  they  have  concluded  that  it  is  not  best  to  swap 
horses  while  crossing  the  river,  and  have  further  concluded 
that  I  am  not  so  poor  a  horse  that  they  might  not  make  a 
botch  of  it  trying  to  swap." 

The  renomination  of  Lincoln  had  taken  place  when  the 
country  and  the  Administration  were  rejoicing  in  Grant's 
successes  and  still  prophesying  that  the  war  was  practically 
over.  The  developments  of  the  next  few  days  after  the  nom 
ination  put  a  new  look  on  the  military  situation.  Instead  of 
entering  Richmond,  Grant  attacked  Petersburg;  but  before 
he  could  capture  it  the  town  had  been  so  re-enforced  that  it 
was  evident  nothing  but  a  siege  could  reduce  it.  Now  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  in  its  march  from  the  Rapidan  to  the 
James,  extending  from  May  4th  to  June  24th,  had  lost 
nearly  55,000  men.  If  Petersburg  was  to  be  besieged,  it  was 
clear  that  the  army  must  be  re-enforced,  that  there  must  be 
another  draft.  The  President  had  hinted  that  this  was  pos 
sible  only  a  week  after  his  nomination,  in  an  address  in  Phil 
adelphia  at  a  sanitary  fair : 

"  If  I  shall  discover,"  he  asked,  "  that  General  Grant  and 
the  noble  officers  and  men  under  him  can  be  greatly  facili 
tated  in  their  work  by  a  sudden  pouring  forward  of  men  and 
assistance,  will  you  give  them  to  me?  Are  you  ready  to 
march?"  Cries  of  "yes"  answered  him.  "Then  I  say, 
stand  ready,"  he  replied,  "  for  I  am  watching  for  the 
chance." 

A  few  days  later  he  visited  Grant,  and  rode  the  lines  in 
front  of  Petersburg.  All  that  he  saw,  all  the  events  of  the 
following  days,  only  made  it  clearer  to  him  that  there  must 
be  another  outpouring  of  men.  His  friends  besought  him  to 


LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1864          195 

try  to  get  on  without  it.  The  country  was  growing  daily 
more  discouraged  as  it  realized  that  its  hope  of  speedy  vic 
tory  was  vain.  A  new  draft  would  arouse  opposition,  give 
a  new  weapon  to  the  Democrats,  make  his  re-election  uncer 
tain:  he  could  not  afford  it.  He  refused  their  counsels. 
"  We  must  lose  nothing  even  if  I  am  defeated,"  he  said.  "  I 
am  quite  willing  the  people  should  understand  the  issue.  My 
re-election  will  mean  that  the  rebellion  is  to  be  crushed  by 
force  of  arms."  And  on  July  18,  he  called  for  500,000 
volunteers  for  one,  two,  and  three  years. 

All  the  discontent  that  had  been  prophesied  broke  forth  on 
this  call.  The  awful  brutality  of  the  war  came  upon  the 
country  as  never  before.  There  was  a  revulsion  of  feeling 
against  the  sacrifice  going  on,  such  as  had  not  been  ex 
perienced  since  the  war  began.  All  the  complaints  that  had 
been  urged  against  Lincoln  both  by  radical  Republicans  and 
by  Democrats  broke  out  afresh.  The  draft  was  talked  of  as 
if  it  were  the  arbitrary  freak  of  a  tyrant.  It  was  declared  that 
Lincoln  had  violated  constitutional  rights,  personal  liberty, 
the  liberty  of  the  press,  the  rights  of  asylum ;  that,  in  short, 
he  had  been  guilty  of  all  the  abuses  of  a  military  dictator. 
Much  bitter  criticism  was  made  of  his  treatment  of  peace 
overtures.  It  was  declared  that  the  Confederates  were 
anxious  to  make  peace,  and  had  taken  the  first  steps,  but  that 
Lincoln  was  so  bloodthirsty  that  he  was  unwilling  to  use  any 
means  but  force.  Even  Horace  Greeley  joined  now  in  this 
criticism,  though  up  to  this  summer  he  had  stood  with  the 
President  on  the  question.  In  May,  1864,  when  Congress 
man  Dawson  proposed  in  the  Senate  that  the  North  should 
"  tender  the  olive  branch  of  peace  as  an  exchange  for  the 
sword,"  the  "  Tribune  "  ridiculed  the  idea  and  suggested  that 
Mr.  Dawson,  without  waiting  for  the  House  to  adopt  his 
resolution,  should  start  at  once  on  his  private  account  for 
the  camp  of  General  Lee  "  with  a  whole  cart-load  of  olive 


196  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

branches."     "  Some  good  may  come  of  it,"  said  Mr.  Gree 
ley;  "  Mr.  Dawson  may  possibly  be  treated  as  a  spy." 

Later,  when  peace  was  proposed  in  the  Confederate  Con 
gress,  Mr.  Greeley  said : 

"  Speaking  generally,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  if  there  had 
been  any  foundation  other  than  the  unconditional  surrender 
of  the  '  Confederacy/  upon  which  to  build  it,  we  would  have 
had  peace  long  ago.  But  the  quarrel  is  a  mortal  one  .... 
there  can  be  no  peace  the  terms  of  which  are  not  dictated  and 
enforced  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States." 

On  June  10,  in  answer  to  an  attack  on  the  administra 
tion  for  refusing  to  allow  a  Confederate  gun-boat  to  bring 
Stephens  to  Washington,  Greeley  said : 

"  The,  naked  truth  lies  here :  Up  to  this  hour  the  rebels 
have  never  been  ready  or  willing  to  treat  with  our  govern 
ment  on  any  other  footing  than  that  of  independence;  and 
this  we  have  not  been  inclined  to  concede.  When  they  (or 
we)  have  been  beaten  into  a  willingness  to  concede  the  vital 
matter  in  dispute,  negotiations  for  per,ce  will  be  in  order — • 
and  not  till  then." 

In  spite  of  these  utterances  however,  Mr.  Greeley  wavered 
in  July,  upon  receiving  from  an  irresponsible  and  officious 
individual  known  as  "  Colorado  Jewett,"  a  communication 
stating  that  two  ambassadors  of  "  Davis  and  Company  " 
were  in  Canada  with  full  and  complete  powers  for  a  peace, 
and  requesting  Mr.  Greeley  to  come  immediately  to  Niagara, 
Taking  the  matter  seriously  he  wrote  the  President  a  long 
and  hysterical  letter,  urging  that  the  offer  be  accepted,  and 
some  one  sent  to  Niagara.  Mr.  Lincoln  saw  his  chance  to 
demonstrate  to  the  country  the  futility  of  peace  negotiations. 
He  replied  immediately  appointing  Greeley  himself  as  an 
ambassador  to  meet  the  parties. 


MR.     LINCOLN    AND     HIS    SON    THOMAS,     FAMILIARLY    KNOWN    AS     "TAD."        ABOUT 

1864.         BY    BRADY. 


LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1864          197 

"  If  you  can  find  any  person  anywhere,"  he  wrote,  "  pro 
fessing  to  have  any  proposition  of  Jefferson  Davis  in  writing, 
for  peace,  embracing  the  restoration  of  the  Union  and  aban 
donment  of  slavery,  whatever  else  it  embraces,  say  to  him 
he  may  come  to  me  with  you;  and  that  if  he  really  brings 
such  proposition,  he  shall  at  the  least  have  safe  conduct  with 
the  paper  (and  without  publicity,  if  he  chooses)  to  the  point 
where  you  shall  have  met  him.  The  same  if  there  be  two  or 
more  persons." 

This  was  a  turn  that  the  editor  of  the  "  Tribune  "  had  evi 
dently  not  expected,  but  Mr.  Lincoln  insisted  that  he  carry 
out  the  commission,  his  only  conditions  being  the  ones  stated 
above,  and  he  sent  him  the  following  paper: 

"  To  Whom  It  May  Concern :  Any  proposition  which 
embraces  the  restoration  of  peace,  the  integrity  of  the  whole 
Union,  and  the  abandonment  of  slavery,  and  which  comes 
by  and  with  an  authority  that  can  control  the  armies  now  at 
war  against  the  United  States,  will  be  received  and  con 
sidered  by  the  Executive  Government  of  the  United  States, 
and  will  be  met  by  liberal  terms  on  other  substantial  and 
collateral  points,  and  the  bearer  or  bearers  thereof  shall  have 
safe  conduct  both  ways.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN/'' 

Mr.  Greeley  went  to  Niagara,  but  as  it  turned  out  the 
persons  whom  he  had  taken  seriously  had  no  authority  what 
ever  from  Davis,  and  they  declared  that  no  negotiations  for 
peace  were  possible  if  Mr.  Lincoln's  conditions  must  be  con 
ceded.  So  the  conference,  which  ran  over  a  number  of  days, 
and  which  was  enveloped  in  much  mystery,  fell  through.  At 
the  end  it  got  into  the  newspapers,  though  only  a  portion  of 
the  correspondence  was  published  at  the  time.  It  was  evi 
dent  to  people  of  sense  however,  that  Mr.  Greeley  had  been 
hoodwinked.  It  was  evident,  too,  that  the  President  was 
willing  to  carry  on  peace  negotiations  if  those  points  for 
which  the  war  had  been  fought  were  yielded.  All  the 
effectiveness  of  peace  cries  after  this,  was  gone.  Senator 


198  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

Harlan  of  Iowa,  who,  with  other  Republicans,  appreciated 
thoroughly  the  clever  way  in  which  Lincoln  had  disposed  of 
the  editor  of  the  "  Tribune/'  said  to  him  one  day  on  the  ter 
race  of  the  White  House :  "  Some  of  us  think,  Mr.  Lincoln, 
that  you  didn't  send  a  very  good  ambassador  to  Niagara/' 
"  Well,  I'll  tell  you  about  that,  Harlan,"  replied  the  Presi 
dent,  "  Greeley  kept  abusing  me  for  not  entering  into  peace 


6EGEND  SCRATCHED  ON  A  WINDOW  PANE  BY  J.  WILKES  BOOTH,  AT  MEADVILLE, 
PENNSYLVANIA,  AUGUST,  1864. 

negotiations.  He  said  he  believed  we  could  have  peace  if  I 
would  do  my  part  and  when  he  began  to  urge  that  I  send  an 
ambassador  to  Niagara  to  meet  Confederate  emissaries,  I 
just  thought  I  would  let  him  go  up  and  crack  that  nut  for 
himself." 

As  July  dragged  on  and  August  passed  there  was  no  break 
in  the  gloom.    Farragut  was  threatening  Mobile ;  Sherman, 


LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1864          IQ9 

Atlanta;  Grant,  Petersburg;  but  all  of  these  three  great  un 
dertakings  seemed  to  promise  nothing  but  a  fruitless 
slaughter  of  men.  The  despair  and  indignation  of  the  coun 
try  in  this  dreadful  time  all  centered  on  Lincoln.  Republi 
cans,  hopeless  of  reflecting  him,  talked  of  replacing  him  by 
another  candidate.  The  Democrats  argued  that  the  war  and 
all  its  woes  were  the  direct  result  of  his  tyrannical  and  un 
constitutional  policy  The  more  violent  intimated  that  he 
should  be  put  out  or  the  way.  A  sign  of  the  bitterness  against 
him  little  noted  at  the  moment,  but  sinister  in  the  light  of 
after  events,  was  an  inscription  found  one  August  morning 
written  on  the  window  of  a  room  in  a  Meadville  (Pennsyl 
vania)  hotel.  The  room  had  been  occupied  the  night  before 
by  a  favorite  actor,  J.  Wilkes  Booth.  The  inscription  ran : 
"Abe  Lincoln  Departed  this  Life  Aug.  I3th,  1864,  By  the 
effects  of  Poison." 

In  the  dreadful  uproar  of  discontent  one  cry  alarmed  Lin 
coln  more  than  all  others ;  this  was  the  revival  of  the  demand 
that  Grant  be  presented  for  the  presidency.  It  was  not  so 
much  the  fear  of  defeat  by  Grant  that  affected  him  as  it  was 
the  dread  that  the  campaign  would  be  neglected  if  the  Gen 
eral  went  into  politics.  He  concluded  that  he  ought  to  sound 
Grant  again.  Colonel  John  Eaton  (now  General),  a  friend 
of  Grant,  was  in  Washington  at  the  time  and  often  with  Mr. 
Lincoln.  Referring  to  the  efforts  making  to  nominate 
Grant,  Lincoln  asked  if  the  Colonel  knew  what  the  General 
thought  of  the  attempt.  No,  the  Colonel  said,  he  didn't. 

"  Well,"  said  Lincoln,  "  if  Grant  is  the  great  general  we 
think  he  is,  he  must  have  some  consciousness  of  it,  and  know 
that  he  cannot  be  satisfied  with  himself  and  secure  the  credit 
due  for  his  great  generalship  if  he  does  not  finish  the  job." 
And  he  added,  "  I  don't  believe  they  can  get  him  to  run." 

The  President  then  asked  the  Colonel  if  he  could  not  go  to 
Grant  and  find  out  for  him  how  the  General  felt.  Colonel 


200  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

Eaton  started  at  once  on  his  errand.  Reaching  headquarters 
and  being  received  by  the  General,  he  worked  his  way  to  the 
subject  by  recounting  how  he  had  met  persons  recently  in 
travelling  who  had  asked  him  if  he  thought  Grant  could  be 
induced  to  run  against  Lincoln,  not  as  a  partisan,  but  as  a 
citizen's  candidate,  to  save  the  Union.  Grant  brought  his 
hand  down  emphatically  on  the  strap  arm  of  his  camp-chair. 
"  They  can't  do  it !  They  can't  compel  me  to  do  it !  " 

"  Have  you  said  this  to  the  President  ?  "  asked  Colonel 
Eaton. 

"  No,"  said  Grant,  "  I  have  not  thought  it  worth  while  to 
assure  the  President  of  my  opinion.  I  consider  it  as  import 
ant  for  the  cause  that  he  should  be  elected  as  that  the  army 
should  be  successful  in  the  field." 

Lincoln's  friends  took  the  situation  at  this  period  more 
seriously  than  he.  Their  alarm  is  graphically  pictured  in  the 
following  letter  from  Leonard  Swett  to  his  wife.  It  was 
probably  written  toward  the  end  of  August : 

ASTOR  HOUSE,  NEW  YORK, 
Monday,  ,  1864. 

My  Dear  Wife:  The  fearful  things  in  relation  to  the 
country  have  induced  me  to  stay  a  week  here.  I  go  to 
Washington  to-night,  and  can't  see  how  I  can  get  away  from 
there  before  the  last  of  the  week. 

A  summary  of  movements  is  as  follows : 

The  malicious  foes  of  Lincoln  are  calling  or  getting  up  a 
Buffalo  convention  to  supplant  him.  They  are  Sumner, 
Wade,  Henry  Winter  Davis,  Chase,  Fremont,  Wilson,  etc. 

The  Democrats  are  conspiring  to  resist  the  draft.  We 
seized  this  morning  three  thousand  pistols  going  to  Indiana 
for  distribution.  The  war  Democrats  are  trying  to  make 
the  Chicago  nominee  a  loyal  man.  The  peace  Democrats  are 
trying  to  get  control  of  the  Government,  and  through  al 
liance  with  Jefferson  Davis,  to  get  control  of  both  armies 
and  make  universal  revolution  necessary. 


LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1864          2OI 

The  most  fearful  things  are  probable. 

I  am  acting  with  Thurlow  Weed,  Raymond,  etc.,  to  try  to 
avert.  There  is  not  much  hope. 

Unless  material  changes  can  be  wrought,  Lincoln's  elec 
tion  is  beyond  any  possible  hope.  It  is  probably  clean  gone 
now.* 

Lincoln  himself  had  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  be 
defeated.  What  would  be  his  duty  then?  It  was  so  clear  to 
him,  that  he  wrote  it  down  on  a  slip  of  paper : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  August  23,  1864. 

This  morning,  as  for  some  days  past,  it  seems  exceedingly 
probable  that  this  administration  will  not  be  re-elected.  Then 
it  will  be  my  duty  to  so  co-operate  with  the  President-elect 
as  to  save  the  Union  between  the  election  and  the  inaugura 
tion;  as  he  will  have  secured  his  election  on  such  ground 
that  he  cannot  possibly  save  it  afterward. 

A.  LlNCOLN.f 

He  folded  the  slip,  and  when  the  cabinet  met,  he  asked 
the  members  to  put  their  names  on  the  back.  What  was  in 
side  he  did  not  tell  them.  In  the  incessant  buffeting  of  his 
life  he  had  learned  that  the  highest  moral  experience  of 
which  a  man  is  capable  is  standing  clear  before  his  own  con 
science.  He  laid  the  paper  away,  a  compact  with  his  con 
science  in  case  of  defeat. 

The  Democrats  had  deferred  their  national  convention  as 
long  as  possible,  hoping  for  a  military  situation  which  would 
enable  them  to  win  the  people.  They  could  not  have  had  a 
situation  more  favorable  to  their  plans.  But  they  miscalcu 
lated  in  one  vital  particular.  They  took  the  despair  of  the 
country  as  a  sign  that  peace  would  be  welcome  even  at  the 


*  Letter  loaned  by  Mr.  Leonard  Herbert  Swett,  of  Aurora,  111. 
f  "  Abraham  Lincoln;  A  History."      By  Nicolay  and  Hay. 


202  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

cost  of  the  Union,  and  they  adopted  a  peace  platform.  They 
nominated  on  this  platform  a  candidate  vowed  to  war  and  to 
the  Union,  General  McClellan.  So  unpopular  was  the  com 
bination  that  General  McClellan,  in  accepting  the  nomina 
tion,  practically  repudiated  the  platform. 

But  at  this  moment  something  further  interfered  to  save 
the  Administration.  Sherman  captured  Atlanta,  and  Farra- 
gut  took  Mobile  Bay,  "  Sherman  and  Farragut,"  said  Sew- 
ard,  "  have  knocked  the  bottom  out  of  the  Chicago  nomina 
tions."  If  they  had  not  quite  done  that,  they  had  at  least 
given  heart  to  Lincoln's  supporters,  who  went  to  work  with 
a  will  to  secure  his  re-election.  The  following  letter  by 
Leonard  Swett  shows  something  of  what  was  done : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  8,  1864. 

My  Dear  Wife:  There  has  never  been  an  instance  in 
which  Providence  has  kindly  interposed  in  our  behalf  in  our 
national  struggles  in  so  marked  and  essential  manner  as  in 
the  recent  Union  victories. 

You  know  I  had  become  very  fearful  before  leaving  home. 
When  I  arrived  in  New  York,  I  found  the  most  alarming 
depression  possessing  the  minds  of  all  the  Republicans, 
Greeley,  Beecher,  Raymond,  Weed;  and  all  the  small  poli 
ticians  without  exception  utterly  gave  up  in  despair.  Ray 
mond,  the  chairman  of  the  National  Committee,  not  only 
gave  up,  but  would  do  nothing.  Nobody  would  do  anything. 
There  was  not  a  man  doing  anything  except  mischief. 

A  movement  was  organizing  to  make  Mr.  Lincoln  with 
draw  or  call  a  convention  and  supplant  him. 

I  felt  it  my  duty  to  see  if  some  action  could  not  be  inaugu 
rated.  I  got  Raymond,  after  great  labor,  to  call  the  com 
mittee  at  Washington  three  days  after  I  would  arrive  here, 
and  came  first  to  see  if  Mr.  Lincoln  understood  his  danger 
and  would  help  to  set  things  in  motion.  He  understood  fully 
the  danger  of  his  position,  and  for  once  seemed  anxious  I 
should  try  to  stem  the  tide  bearing  him  down.  When  the 


LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1864          203 

committee  met,  they  showed  entire  want  of  organization  and 
had  not  a  dollar  of  money. 

Maine  was  calling  for  speakers.  Two  men  were  obtained, 
and  I  had  to  advance  them  a  hundred  dollars  each  to  go. 

The  first  gleam  of  hope  was  in  the  Chicago  convention. 
The  evident  depression  of  the  public  caused  the  peace  men  to 
control  that  convention,  and  then,  just  as  the  public  began 
to  shrink  from  accepting  it,  God  gave  us  the  victory  at  At 
lanta,  which  made  the  ship  right  itself,  as  a  ship  in  a  storm 
does  after  a  great  wave  has  nearly  capsized  it. 

Washburne,  of  Illinois,  a  man  of  great  force,  came,  and 
he  and  I  have  been  working  incessantly.  I  have  raised  and 
provided  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  canvass. 

Don't  think  this  is  for  improper  purposes.  It  is  not. 
Speakers  have  to  be  paid.  Documents  have  to  be  sent,  and 
innumerable  expenses  have  to  be  incurred. 

The  Secessionists  are  flooding  the  Northwest  with  money. 
Voorhees  and  Vallandigham  are  arming  the  people  there, 
and  are  trying  to  make  the  draft  an  occasion  for  an  uprising. 
We  are  in  the  midst  of  conspiracies  equal  to  the  French  Rev 
olution. 

I  have  felt  it  my  solemn  duty  under  these  circumstances 
to  stay  here.  I  have  been  actuated  by  no  other  motive  than 
that  of  trying  to  save  our  country  from  further  dismember 
ment  and  war.  People  from  the  West,  and  our  best  people, 
say  if  we  fail  now  the  West  will  surely  break  off  and  go  with 
the  South.  Of  course  that  would  be  resisted,  and  the  re 
sistance  would  bring  war.* 

All  through  September  and  October  the  preparation  for 
the  November  election  continued.  The  loyal  governors  of 
the  North,  men  to  whom  the  Union  cause  owed  much  more 
than  has  ever  been  fully  realized,  worked  incessantly.  The 
great  orators  of  the  Republican  party  were  set  at  work,  Carl 
Schurz  even  giving  up  his  opportunity  in  the  army  to  take 
the  platform,  and  many  an  officer  and  private  who  had  in 
fluence  in  their  communities  going  home  on  furloughs  to  aid 
in  electioneering.  The  most  elaborate  preparations  were 
*  Letter  loaned  by  Mr.  Herbert  Leonard  Swett  of  Aurora,  111. 


204  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

made  for  getting  the  vote  of  every  man,  most  of  the  States 
allowing  the  soldiers  to  vote  in  the  field.  Where  this  was  not 
arranged  for,  the  War  Department  did  its  utmost  to  secure 
furloughs  for  the  men.  Even  convalescents  from  the  hospi 
tals  were  sent  home  to  vote. 

In  this  great  burst  of  determined  effort  Lincoln  took  little 
part.  The  country  understood,  he  believed,  exactly  what 
his  election  meant.  It  meant  the  preservation  of  the  Union 
by  force.  It  meant  that  he  would  draft  men  so  long 
as  he  needed  them;  that  he  would  suspend  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus,  and  employ  a  military  tribunal,  whenever  he 
deemed  it  necessary.  It  meant,  too,  that  he  would  do  his  ut 
most  to  secure  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  abolishing 
slavery  forever,  for  the  platform  the  Union  convention  had 
adopted  before  nominating  him  contained  that  plank.  He 
could  not  be  persuaded  by  the  cautious  and  timid  to  modify 
or  obscure  this  policy.  He  wanted  the  people  to  understand 
exactly  what  he  intended,  he  said,  and  whenever  he  did  speak 
or  write,  it  was  only  to  reiterate  his  principles  in  his  pe 
culiarly  plain,  unmistakable  language.  Nor  would  he  allow 
any  interference  with  the  suffrage  of  men  in  office.  They 
must  vote  as  they  pleased.  "  My  wish  is,"  he  wrote  to  the 
postmaster  of  Philadelphia,  who  had  been  accused  of  trying 
to  control  the  votes  of  his  subordinates,  "  that  you  will  do 
just  as  you  think  fit  with  your  own  suffrage  in  the  case,  and 
not  constrain  any  of  your  subordinates  to  do  other  than  as  he 
thinks  fit  with  his." 

Thus  when  the  election  finally  came  off,  on  November  8, 
there  was  not  a  man  of  any  intelligence  in  the  country  who 
did  not  know  exactly  what  he  was  voting  for,  if  he  voted  for 
Lincoln.  What  these  men  thought  of  him  the  work  of  that 
day  showed.  Out  of  233  electoral  votes,  General  McClellan 
received  twenty-one,  212  being  for  Lincoln.  The  oppor 
tunity  to  finish  the  task  was  now  his. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
LINCOLN'S  WORK  IN  THE  WINTER  OF  1864-65 — HIS  SECOND 

INAUGURATION 

OUT  of  the  election  Lincoln  got  profound  satisfaction. 
He  had  striven  to  his  utmost  to  let  the  people  know  what  he 
was  trying  to  do — this  overwhelming  vote  for  him  coming 
after  the  dire  discouragement  of  the  summer,  proved  that 
they  understood  him  and  were  with  him.  "  I  am  deeply 
thankful  to  God  for  this  approval  of  the  people/'  he  told  a 
band  of  serenaders.  But  there  was  something  beside  personal 
triumph  in  his  reflections  on  the  elections.  Since  the  be 
ginning  of  the  war  Lincoln  had  repeatedly  told  the  people 
that  Republican  institutions  were  at  stake.  In  his  first  ad 
dress  to  Congress,  July  4,  1861,  he  said :  "  Our  popular  gov 
ernment  has  often  been  callrd  an  experiment.  Two  points 
in  it  our  people  have  already  settled — the  successful  estab 
lishing  and  the  successful  administering  of  it.  One  still  re 
mains — its  successful  maintenance  against  a  formidable  in 
ternal  attempt  to  overthrow  it." 

Three  years  of  internal  war  had  not  been  able  to  unseat 
the  government.  But  what  would  be  the  effect  of  a  presiden 
tial  election  added  to  war?  The  warmest  friends  of  repub 
lican  institutions  feared  that  the  strain  would  be  too  great. 

"  It  has  long  been  a  grave  question,"  said  Lincoln 
a  few  days  after  the  election,  "  whether  any  government, 
not  too  strong  for  the  liberties  of  its  people,  can  be  strong 
enough  to  maintain  its  existence  in  great  emergencies.  On 
this  point  the  present  rebellion  brought  our  republic  to  a 

205 


206  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

severe  test,  and  a  presidential  election  occurring  in  regular 
course  during  the  rebellion,  added  not  a  little  to  the  strain. 
"  If  the  loyal  people  united  were  put  to  the  utmost  of 
their  strength  by  the  rebellion,  must  they  not  fail  when 
divided  and  partially  paralyzed  by  a  political  war  among 
themselves?  But  the  election  was  a  necessity.  We  cannot 
have  free  government  without  elections;  and  if  the  rebel 
lion  could  force  us  to  forego  or  postpone  a  national  elec 
tion,  it  might  fairly  claim  to  have  already  conquered  and 
ruined  us.  *  *  *  But  the  election,  along  with  its  in 
cidental  and  undesirable  strife,  has  done  good  too.  It  has 
demonstrated  that  a  people's  government  can  sustain  a  na 
tional  election  in  the  midst  of  a  great  civil  war.  Until  now, 
it  has  not  been  known  to  the  world  that  this  was  a  possi 
bility." 

Another  fact  vital  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  policy  was  proved  by 
the  election.  The  North  was  far  from  exhaustion  in  "  the 
most  important  branch  of  national  resources — that  of  liv 
ing  men." 

"While  it  is  melancholy  to  reflect/"  the  President 
said  in  his  December  address  to  Congress.  "  that  the  war 
had  filled  so  many  graves,  and  carried  mourning  to  so 
many  hearts,  it  is  some  relief  to  know  that  compared  with 
the  surviving,  the  fallen  have  been  so  few.  While  corps, 
and  divisions,  and  brigades,  and  regiments  have  formed, 
and  fought,  and  dwindled,  and  gone  out  of  existence,  a  great 
majority  of  the  men  who  composed  them  are  still  living. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  naval  service.  The  election  returns 
prove  this.  So  many  voters  could  not  else  be  found.  The 
States  regularly  holding  elections,  both  now  and  four  years 
ago  .  .  .  cast  3,982,011  votes  now,  against  3,870,222 
cast  then;  showing  an  aggregate  now  of  3,982,011.  To 
this  is  to  be  added  33,762  cast  now  in  the  new  States  of 
Kansas  and  Nevada,  which  States  did  not  vote  in  1860;  thus 
swelling  the  aggregate  to  4,015,773,  and  the  net  increase 
during  the  three  years  and  a  half  of  war,  to  145,551.  .  .  - 
To  this  again  should  be  added  the  number  of  all  soldiers  in 
the  field  from  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  New  Jersey, 


HIS  WORK  IN  THE  WINTER  OF  1864-5       207 

Delaware,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  California,  who  by  the  laws 
of  those  States  could  not  vote  away  from  their  homes,  and 
which  number  cannot  be  less  than  90,000.  Nor  yet  is  this  all. 
The  number  in  organized  Territories  is  triple  now  what  it 
was  four  years  ago,  while  thousands,  white  and  black,  join 
us  as  the  national  arms  press  back  the  insurgent  lines.  So 
much  is  shown,  affirmatively  and  negatively  by  the  election. 
"  It  is  not  material  to  inquire  how  the  increase  has  been 
produced,  or  to  show  that  it  would  have  been  greater  but 
for  the  war,  which  is  probably  true.  The  important  fact 
remains  demonstrated  that  we  have  more  men  now  than  we 
had  when  the  war  began ;  that  we  are  not  exhausted,  nor  in 
process  of  exhaustion;  that  we  are  gaining  strength,  and 
may,  if  need  be,  maintain  the  contest  indefinitely.  This  as 
to  men.  Material  resources  are  now  more  complete  and 
abundant  than  ever." 

Approved  by  the  people,  convinced  that  the  institutions 
of  the  country  had  successfully  resisted  the  worst  strain 
which  could  be  given  them,  inexhaustible  resources  at  his 
command,  Lincoln  took  up  his  task.  To  put  an  end  to 
the  armed  resistance  to  the  union  was  the  first  duty.  This 
had  got  to  be  done  by  war  not  by  negotiation.  He  put  it 
plainly  to  Congress  in  December: 

"  On  careful  consideration  of  all  the  evidence  accessi 
ble,  it  seems  to  me  that  no  attempt  at  negotiation  with  the 
insurgent  leader  could  result  in  any  good.  He  would  ac 
cept  nothing  short  of  severance  of  the  Union — precisely 
what  we  will  not  and  cannot  give.  His  declarations  to  this 
effect  are  explicit  and  oft  repeated.  He  does  not  attempt 
to  deceive  us.  He  affords  us  no  excuse  to  deceive  our 
selves.  He  cannot  voluntarily  re-accept  the  Union ;  we  can 
not  voluntarily  yield  it.  Between  him  and  us  the  issue 
is  distinct,  simple,  and  inflexible.  It  is  an  issue  which  can 
only  be  tried  by  war,  and  decided  by  victory.  If  we  yield, 
we  are  beaten ;  if  the  Southern  people  fail  him,  he  is  beaten. 
Either  way  it  would  be  the  victory  and  defeat  following 
war." 


208  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

By  this  time  the  boundaries  of  the  Confederacy  had  been 
so  narrowed,  their  territory  so  divided  by  invading  armies 
that  it  seemed  to  all  observers  that  they  must  soon  yield. 
The  Mississippi  was  open  and  the  territory  on  each  side 
practically  under  federal  control.  Louisiana  was  under 
military  government.  Missouri,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee 
were  so  cleared  of  troops  that  they  had  produced  fair  crops. 
Three  ports,  Norfolk,  Fernandina  and  Pensacola,  were 
opened  on  December  i  to  commercial  intercourse  except 
ing  of  course  "  persons,  things  and  information  contra 
band  of  war."  Grant  held  Lee  and  the  bulk  of  the  Con 
federate  army  at  Richmond.  Sherman  who  had  taken 
Atlanta  in  August  had  marched  three  hundred  miles  di 
rectly  through  the  Confederate  country  destroying  every 
thing  as  he  went.  Nobody  knew  just  then  where  he  would 
come  out  but  it  was  certain  he  could  be  counted  on  to 
hold  the  Confederate  force  under  Johnston  in  check.  Be 
sides  the  armies  under  Lee  and  Johnston  there  were  other 
smaller  forces  holding  positions,  but  it  was  evident  that 
if  Lee  and  Johnston  were  defeated,  the  surrender  of  these 
smaller  forces  was  inevitable.  The  Confederate  navy,  too, 
had  been  destroyed  by  this  time.  The  task  seemed  short, 
yet  such  was  the  courage,  the  resourcefulness,  the  audacity 
in  attack  and  defense  which  the  Confederates  had  shown 
from  the  beginning  of  the  war  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  the 
last  man  in  the  North  to  relax  efforts.  Although  he  had 
an  army  of  nearly  a  million  men  enrolled  at  the  time  of  his 
re-election,  on  December  19,  he  called  for  300,000  volunteers 
to  serve  for  one,  two  or  three  years. 

A  week  after  this  call  Sherman  "  came  out  "  and  pre 
sented  the  country  Savannah  as  a  Christmas  gift.  The 
letter  Lincoln  wrote  him,  is  worthy  to  be  placed  beside  the 
one  he  wrote  to  Grant  after  Vicksburg : 


HIS  WORK  IN  THE  WINTER  OF  1864-5     209 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  26,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  GENERAL  SHERMAN  : 

Many,  many  thanks  for  your  Christmas  gift,  the  capture 
of  Savannah. 

When  you  were  about  leaving  Atlanta  for  the  Atlantic 
coast,  I  was  anxious,  if  not  fearful;  but  feeling  that  you 
were  the  better  judge,  and  remembering  that  "  nothing 
risked,  nothing  gained,"  I  did  not  interfere.  Now,  the 
undertaking  being  a  success,  the  honor  is  all  yours;  for  I 
believe  none  of  us  went  further  than  to  acquiesce. 

And  taking  the  work  of  General  Thomas  into  the  count, 
as  it  should  be  taken,  it  is  indeed  a  great  success.  Not 
only  does  it  afford  the  obvious  and  immediate  military  ad 
vantages  ;  but  in  showing  to  the  world  that  your  army  could 
be  divided,  putting  the  stronger  part  to  an  important  new 
service,  and  yet  leaving  enough  to  vanquish  the  old  oppos 
ing  force  of  the  whole, — Hood's  army, — it  brings  those  who 
sat  in  darkness  to  see  a  great  light.  But  what  next? 

I  suppose  it  will  be  safe  if  I  leave  General  Grant  and 
yourself  to  decide. 

Please  make  my  grateful  acknowledgments  to  your  whole 
army— -officers  and  men. 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

Although  the  great  majority  of  the  country  agreed  with 
Mr.  Lincoln  that  the  issue  between  North  and  South  "  could 
only  be  tried  by  war,  and  decided  by  victory,"  advocates  of 
peace  conferences  still  nagged  the  President,  begging  that 
if  they  were  allowed  to  go  South  or  if  commissioners  from 
the  South  were  allowed  to  come  North  everything  could 
be  adjusted.  Among  these  peace-makers  was  Francis  P. 
Blair,  Sr.  He  knew  the  South  well,  he  believed  honestly 
enough,  no  doubt,  that  mediation  would  be  successful. 
Finally  at  the  end  of  December  the  president  gave  him  a 
(14) 


210  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

pass  through  the  lines.  Blair  saw  President  Davis  and  from 
him  received  a  letter  saying  that  if  Blair  would  promise 
that  a  confederate  commissioner,  minister  or  other  agent 
would  be  received  by  President  Lincoln  he  would  appoint 
one  at  once  "  with  a  view  to  secure  peace  to  the  two  coun 
tries." 

Mr.  Lincoln  answered: 

1  You  having  shown  me  Mr.  Davis's  letter  to  you  of 
the  1 2th  instant,  you  may  say  to  him  that  I  have  con 
stantly  been,  am  now,  and  shall  continue  ready  to  receive 
any  Lgent  whom  he,  or  any  other  influential  person  now 
resisting  the  national  authority,  may  informally  send  to 
me,  with  the  view  of  securing  peace  to  the  people  of  our 
one  common  country." 

It  is  evident  from  the  letters  of  the  two  leaders  that 
neither  yielded  on  the  essential  point  at  issue.  Jefferson 
Davis  recognized  "  two  countries,"  Abraham  Lincoln  "  one 
common  country/'  The  upshot  of  Mr.  Blair's  mediation 
was  that  President  Davis  sent  three  commissioners,  Alex 
ander  H.  Stephens,  R.  M.  T.  Hunter  and  John  A.  Camp 
bell,  all  members  of  the  Confederate  government,  to  Grant's 
headquarters  for  conference.  Lincoln  sent  Seward  to  meet 
the  commissioners  with  instructions  that  three  things  were 
indispensable  to  mediation : 

1.  The  restoration  of  the  national  authority  through 
out  all  the  States. 

2.  No  receding  by  the  executive  of  the  United  States 
on  the  slavery  question  from  the  position  assumed  thereon 
in  the  late  annual  message  to  Congress,  and  in  preceding 
documents. 

3.  No  cessation  of  hostilities  short  of  an  end  of  the 
war  and  the  disbanding  of  all  forces  hostile  to  the  gov 
ernment. 


HIS  WORK  IN  THE  WINTER  OF  1864-5      211 

Before  Seward  had  met  the  commission  Lincoln  decided 
to  join  him  and  a  meeting  was  arranged  at  Fortress  Mon 
roe,  the  Confederate  envoys  being  conducted  to  the  steamer 
River  Queen  where  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Seward  were 
quartered. 

The  meeting  of  the  men,  all  of  them  acquaintances  in 
earlier  days,  was  cordial  and  they  began  and  ended  their 
conference  in  an  entirely  friendly  mood.  But  from  the 
outset  it  was  evident  that  nothing  would  come  of  it.  There 
was  but  one  way  to  end  the  war,  Mr.  Lincoln  told  them 
frankly,  and  that  was  for  those  who  were  resisting  the 
laws  of  the  Union  to  cease  their  resistance.  He  would 
grant  no  armistice — would  in  no  way  recognize  the  States — 
so  long  as  they  were  in  arms.  He  would  make  no  promises 
as  to  reconstruction  after  the  war  had  ceased  until  they 
had  given  him  a  pledge  of  reunion  and  of  cessation  of  resist 
ance.  Mr.  Hunter  attempted  to  argue  this  point  with  him. 
There  was  precedent,  he  said,  for  an  executive  entering  into 
agreement  with  persons  in  arms  against  public  authority. 
Charles  I.  of  England  repeatedly  recognized  the  people 
in  arms  against  him  in  this  way.  "  I  do  not  profess  to  be 
posted  in  history,"  replied  Mr.  Lincoln.  "  On  all  such 
matters  I  will  turn  you  over  to  Seward.  All  I  distinctly 
recollect  about  the  case  of  Charles  is  that  he  lost  his  head." 

But  while  Lincoln  held  firmly  to  what  he  regarded  as 
the  essentials  to  peace,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  give  the  com 
missioners  some  very  good  advice.  "  If  I  resided  in  Geor 
gia,  with  my  present  sentiments,"  Mr.  Stephens  reports 
him  as  saying,  "  I'll  tell  you  what  I  would  do  if  I  were  in 
your  place.  I  would  go  home  and  get  the  Governor  of 
the  State  to  call  the  legislature  together,  and  get  them  to 
recall  all  the  State  troops  from  the  war;  elect  senators  and 
members  to  Congress,  and  ratify  this  constitutional  amend 
ment  ^.respectively,  so  as  to  take  effect — say  in  five  years. 


2i2  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

Such  a  ratification  would  be  valid,  in  my  opinion.  I  have 
looked  into  the  subject,  and  think  such  a  prospective  ratifi 
cation  would  be  valid.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  views 
of  your  people  before  the  war,  they  must  be  convinced  now 
that  slavery  is  doomed.  It  cannot  last  long  in  any  event, 
and  the  best  course,  it  seems  to  me,  for  your  public  men 
to  pursue  would  be  to  adopt  such  a  policy  as  will  avoid, 
as  far  as  possible,  the  evils  of  immediate  emancipation. 
This  would  be  my  course,  if  I  were  in  your  place/' 

And  so  the  Hampton  Roads  conference  ended  without 
other  result  than  a  renewed  confirmation  of  what  Lincoln 
had  contended  from  the  beginning  of  the  agitation  for 
peace  measures — that  the  South  would  never  grant  until 
defeated  what  he  claimed  as  vital  to  any  negotiation — a 
recognition  of  the  Union. 

It  was  understood  by  the  country  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  re 
election  meant  not  only  a  continuation  of  the  war  but  the 
emancipation  of  the  slaves  by  a  constitutional  amendment. 
The  Emancipation  Proclamation  was  never  intended  by 
the  president  for  anything  but  a  military  measure.  He 
had  been  careful  to  state  this  in  delivering  it  and  when 
called  upon  to  retract  it  by  a  large  body  of  the  North  be 
cause  it  turned  the  war  into  a  contest  to  "  free  negroes," 
he  had  gone  to  great  pains  to  explain  his  view.  Thus  in 
a  letter  written  in  August  '63  to  his  political  friends  in 
Illinois,  he  said: 

'''  You  dislike  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  and  per 
haps  would  have  it  retracted.  You  say  it  is  unconstitu 
tional.  I  think  differently.  I  think  the  Constitution  invests 
its  commander-in-chief  with  the  law  of  war  in  time  of  war. 
The  most  that  can  be  said — if  so  much — is  that  slaves  are 
property.  Is  there — has  there  ever  been — any  question 
that  by  the  law  of  war,  property,  both  of  enemies  and 
friends,  may  be  taken  when  needed?  And  is  it  not  needed 


HIS  WORK  IN  THE  WINTER  OF  1864-5      213 

whenever  taking  it  helps  us,  or  hurts  the  enemy?  Armies, 
the  world  over,  destroy  enemies'  property  when  they  can 
not  use  it;  and  even  destroy  their  own  to  keep  it  from  the 
enemy.  Civilized  belligerents  do  all  in  their  power  to 
help  themselves  or  hurt  the  enemy,  except  a  few  things 
regarded  as  barbarous  or  cruel.  Among  the  exceptions 
are  the  massacre  of  vanquished  foes  and  non-combatants, 
male  and  female. 

"  But  the  proclamation,  as  law,  either  is  valid  or  is  not 
valid.  If  it  is  not  valid,  it  needs  no  retraction.  If  it  is 
valid,  it  cannot  be  retracted  any  more  than  the  dead  can 
be  brought  to  life.  Some  of  you  profess  to  think  its  re 
traction  would  operate  favorably  for  the  Union.  Why  bet 
ter  after  the  retraction  than  before  the  issue.  There  was 
more  than  a  year  and  a  half  of  trial  to  suppress  the  rebellion 
before  the  proclamation  issued;  the  last  one  hundred  days 
of  which  passed  under  an  explicit  notice  that  it  was  com 
ing,  unless  averted  by  those  in  revolt  returning  to  their 
allegiance.  The  war  has  certainly  progressed  as  favorably 
for  us  since  the  issue  of  the  proclamation  as  before.  I 
know,  as  fully  as  one  can  know  the  opinions  of  others, 
that  some  of  the  commanders  of  our  armies  in  the  field,  who 
have  given  us  our  most  important  successes,  believe  the 
emancipation  policy  and  the  use  of  the  colored  troops  con 
stitute  the  heaviest  blow  yet  dealt  to  the  rebellion,  and  that 
at  least  one  of  these  important  successes  could  not  have 
been  achieved  when  it  was  but  for  the  aid  of  black  soldiers. 
Among  the  commanders  holding  these  views  are  some  who 
have  never  had  any  affinity  with  what  is  called  Abolition 
ism,  or  with  Republican  party  politics,  but  who  hold  them 
purely  as  military  opinions.  I  submit  these  opinions  as 
being  entitled  to  some  weight  against  the  objections  often 
urged  that  emancipation  and  arming  the  blacks  are  unwise 
as  military  measures,  and  were  not  adopted  as  such  in  good 
faith. 

:i  You  say  you  will  not  fight  to  free  negroes.  Some  of 
them  seem  willing  to  fight  for  you;  but  no  matter.  Fight 
you,  then,  exclusively,  to  save  the  Union.  I  issued  the 
proclamation  on  purpose  to  aid  you  in  saving  the  Union. 
Whenever  you  shall  have  conquered  all  resistance  to  the 


2i4  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

Union,  if  I  shall  urge  you  to  continue  fighting,  it  will  be 
an  apt  time  then  for  you  to  declare  you  will  not  fight  to 
free  negroes. 

"  I  thought  that  in  your  struggle  for  the  Union,  to 
whatever  extent  the  negroes  should  cease  helping  the  enemy, 
to  that  extent  it  weakened  the  enemy  in  his  resistance  to 
you.  Do  you  think  differently?  I  thought  that  whatever 
negroes  can  be  got  to  do  as  soldiers,  leaves  just  as  much 
less  for  white  soldiers  to  do  in  saving  the  Union.  Does  it 
appear  otherwise  to  you?  But  negroes,  like  other  people, 
act  upon  motives.  Why  should  they  do  anything  for  us 
if  we  will  do  nothing  for  them?  If  they  stake  their  lives 
for  us  they  must  be  prompted  by  the  strongest  motive,  even 
the  promise  of  freedom.  And  the  promise,  being  made, 
must  be  kept." 

Mr.  Lincoln  believed  that  as  soon  as  the  war  was  over, 
the  proclamation  would  become  void.  Voters  would  have  to 
decide  then  what  slaves  it  freed — whether  only  those  who 
had  under  it  made  an  effort  for  their  freedom  and  had 
come  into  the  Union  lines  or  all  of  those  in  the  States  and 
parts  of  States  in  rebellion  at  the  time  it  was  issued.  Mr. 
Lincoln  inclined  to  the  former  view.  But  even  if  the  latter 
interpretation  was  decided  on,  there  would  still  be  many 
slaves  in  the  country — the  institution  if  weakened  would 
still  exist.  It  became  plainer  every  day  to  him  that  some 
measure  must  be  devised  removing  finally  and  forever  the 
evil  root  from  which  the  nation's  long  and  sorrowful  strug 
gle  had  grown.  Slavery  must  end  with  the  war.  The 
only  complete  and  irrevocable  method  to  attain  this  was 
a  constitutional  amendment  abolishing  it  forever.  In  De 
cember,  1863,  an  amendment  of  this  character  had  been 
proposed  in  the  House  and  in  the  January  after  a  similar 
one  in  the  Senate.  The  latter  passed,  but  the  House  failed 
to  give  the  requisite  two-thirds  majority.  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
convinced  nevertheless  that  the  people  if  asked  directly  to 


HIS  WORK  IN  THE  WINTER  OF  1864.5     215 

vote  on  the  subject  would  approve  the  amendment  and  be 
fore  the  meeting  of  the  Republican  Convention  in  June, 
'64,  he  sent  for  the  chairman  of  the  National  Committee, 
Senator  Morgan  of  New  York.  "  I  want  you,"  he  said,  "  to 
mention  in  your  speech,  when  you  call  the  convention  to 
order  as  its  keynote,  and  to  put  into  the  platform,  as  the 
keystone,  the  amendment  of  the  Constitution  abolishing  and 
prohibiting  slavery  forever."  It  was  done,  the  third  article 
of  the  platform  reading: 

Resolved,  That  as  slavery  was  the  cause,  and  now  con 
stitutes  the  strength,  of  this  rebellion,  and  as  it  must  be, 
always  and  everywhere,  hostile  to  the  principles  of  repub 
lican  government,  justice  and  the  national  safety  demand 
its  utter  and  complete  extirpation  from  the  soil  of  the  re 
public;  and  that  while  we  uphold  and  maintain  the  acts 
and  proclamations  by  which  the  government,  in  its  own 
defense,  has  aimed  a  death-blow  at  this  gigantic  evil,  we 
are  in  favor,  furthermore,  of  such  an  amendment  to  the 
Constitution,  to  be  made  by  the  people  in  conformity  with 
its  provisions,  as  shall  terminate  and  forever  prohibit  the 
existence  of  slavery  within  the  limits  of  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  United  States. 

When  in  December  '64  Lincoln  addressed  Congress  for 
the  first  time  after  his  election  he  reminded  them  that  the 
people  in  electing  him  had  voted  for  an  amendment  prohib 
iting  slavery: — 

"  Although  the  present  is  the  same  Congress  "  (which 
defeated  the  bill  of  Dec.,  '63)  he  said,  "and  nearly  the 
same  members,  and  without  questioning  the  wisdom  or 
patriotism  of  those  who  stood  in  opposition,  I  venture  to 
recommend  the  reconstruction  and  passage  of  the  measure 
at  the  present  session.  Of  course  the  abstract  question  is 
not  changed,  but  an  intervening  election  shows,  almost  cer 
tainly,  that  the  next  Congress  will  pass  the  measure  if  this 
does  not.  Hence  there  is  only  a  question  of  time  as  to 


2i6  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

when  the  proposed  amendment  will  go  to  the  States  for 
their  action.  And  as  it  is  to  so  go,  at  all  events,  may  we 
not  agree  that  the  sooner  the  better  ?  It  is  not  claimed  that 
the  election  has  imposed  a  duty  on  members  to  change  their 
views  or  their  votes  any  further  than  as  an  additional  ele 
ment  to  be  considered,  their  judgment  may  be  affected  by 
it.  It  is  the  voice  of  the  people  now  for  the  first  time 
heard  upon  the  question.  In  a  great  national  crisis  like 
ours,  unanimity  of  action  among  those  seeking  a  common 
end  is  very  desirable — almost  indispensable.  And  yet  no 
approach  to  such  unanimity  is  attainable  unless  some  defer 
ence  shall  be  paid  to  the  will  of  the  majority,  simply  because 
it  is  the  will  of  the  majority.  In  this  case  the  common  end 
is  the  maintenance  of  the  Union,  and  among  the  means  to 
secure  that  end,  such  will,  through  the  election,  is  almost 
clearly  declared  in  favor  of  such  constitutional  amendment." 

After  the  bill  was  introduced  he  followed  its  course  with 
greatest  care  working  adroitly  and  constantly  in  its  interests. 
Its  passage  on  January  31  was  a  genuine  satisfaction  to 
him.  "  This  finishes  the  job,"  he  said  joyfully,  and  that 
night  he  said  to  a  band  of  serenaders,  that  he  thought  the 
measure  was  a  very  fitting  if  not  an  indispensable  adjunct  to 
the  winding  up  of  the  great  difficulty.  He  wished  the 
reunion  of  all  the  States  perfected,  and  so  effected  as  to 
remove  all  causes  of  disturbance  in  the  future;  and,  to  at 
tain  this  end,  it  was  necessary  that  the  original  disturb 
ing  cause  should,  if  possible,  be  rooted  out.  He  thought 
all  would  bear  him  witness  that  he  had  never  shrunk  from 
doing  all  that  he  could  to  eradicate  slavery,  by  issuing  an 
emancipation  proclamation.  But  that  proclamation  falls 
short  of  what  the  amendment  will  be  when  fully  consum 
mated.  A  question  might  be  raised  whether  the  proclama 
tion  was  legally  valid.  It  might  be  urged,  that  it  only 
aided  those  that  came  into  our  lines,  and  that  it  was  inopera 
tive  as  to  those  who  did  not  give  themselves  up ;  or  that  it 
would  have  no  effect  upon  the  children  of  slaves  born  here- 


HIS  WORK  IN  THE  WINTER  OF  1864-5     217 

after;  in  fact,  it  would  be  urged  that  it  did  not  meet  the 
evil.  But  this  amendment  is  a  king's  cure-all  for  all  evils. 
It  winds  the  whole  thing  up.  He  would  repeat  that  it  was 
the  fitting  if  not  the  indispensable  adjunct  to  the  con 
summation  of  the  great  game  we  are  playing.  He  could 
not  but  congratulate  all  present — himself,  the  country, 
and  the  whole  world — upon  this  great  moral  victory. 

The  third  matter  which  engrossed  Lincoln  after  his  elec 
tion  was  reconstruction.  From  the  very  beginning  of  the 
war  he  had  watched  for  opportunities,  however  small,  to 
bring  back  into  the  Union  disaffected  districts  and  individ 
uals.  He  was  not  particular  about  the  way  in  which  the 
wanderer  returned.  It  was  enough  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  opin 
ion  if  he  acknowledged  the  Union.  Portions  of  Tennessee, 
Arkansas  and  Louisiana  \vere  put  under  military  rule  in  the 
first  six  months  of  1862  in  order  to  encourage  the  Union 
sympathizers  to  keep  up  a  semblance  of  republican  gov 
ernment  and  whenever  the  President  had  a  chance  he 
encouraged  the  avowed  Unionists  in  these  States  to  get 
together  so  as  to  form  a  nucleus  for  action  when  the  oppor 
tunity  offered. 

By  the  end  of  1863  Mr.  Lincoln  believed  that  the  time  had 
come  for  him  publicly  to  offer  protection  and  pardon  to 
those  persons  and  districts  which  had  been  in  rebellion,  but 
which  had  had  enough  of  the  experience  and  were  ready 
to  come  back.  He  believed  from  what  he  could  learn  that 
there  was  a  considerable  number  of  these.  Accordingly  in 
December  in  sending  in  his  annual  message  to  Congress  he 
issued  a  "  proclamation  of  amnesty  and  reconstruction." 
This  proclamation  offered  pardon  to  all  save  the  persons 
who  had  led  the  rebellion  upon  their  taking  an  oath  to  sup 
port  the  Constitution  and  accept  the  emancipation  procla 
mation.  It  also  promised  to  protect  any  State  government 
formed  in  accordance  with  a  few  simple  and  just  regulations 


2i8  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

which  he  set  forth  very  clearly.  A  few  weeks  after  the 
proclamation  was  issued,  the  President,  anxious  to  know 
how  it  was  working,  sent  General  D.  E.  Sickles  on  an  in 
spection  tour. 

"  Please  ascertain  at  each  place,"  he  wrote  him,  "  what 
is  being  done,  if  anything,  for  reconstruction;  how 
the  amnesty  proclamation  works — if  at  all;  what  prac 
tical  hitches,  if  any,  there  are  about  it;  whether  deserters 
come  in  from  the  enemy,  what  number  has  come  in  at 
each  point  since  the  amnesty,  and  whether  the  ratio  of  their 
arrival  is  any  greater  since  than  before  the  amnesty;  what 
deserters  report  generally,  and  particularly  whether,  and 
to  what  extent,  the  amnesty  is  known  within  the  rebel  lines." 

As  the  months  went  on  Lincoln  found  that  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  efforts  at  forming  governments  were  making  and 
that  the  pardon  was  being  accepted  by  many  persons  there 
was  strong  and  bitter  opposition  even  in  the  Republican 
party  to  his  plans  of  reconstruction.  No  little  of  this  op 
position  was  resentment  that  the  President  had  worked  out 
the  plan  alone  and  had  announced  it  without  consulting 
anybody.  Congress  said  that  he  was  usurping  their  rights. 
Many  felt  that  the  pardon  Lincoln  offered  was  too  generous. 
Rebels  should  be  punished,  not  pardoned,  they  argued. 
Many  declared  the  States  which  had  seceded  could  not  be 
allowed  to  reorganize  without  congressional  action.  At 
the  same  time  the  President  was  constantly  harassed  by  con 
tests  between  the  military  and  civil  authorities  in  the  States 
which  were  trying  to  organize.  These  contests  seemed  so 
unreasonable  and  so  selfish  to  Mr.  Lincoln  that  he  wrote 
some  very  plain  letters  to  the  persons  concerned. 

"  Few  things  since  I  have  been  here,"  he  wrote  Genera! 
Hurlbut  in  November,  "  have  impressed  me  more  painfully 
that  what  for  four  or  five  months  past  has  appeared  a  bittef 


HIS  WORK  IN  THE  WINTER  OF  1864-5       219 

military  opposition  to  the  new  State  government  of  Louisi 
ana.  ...  A  very  fair  proportion  of  the  people  of  Louisiana 
have  inaugurated  a  new  State  government,  making  an  excel 
lent  new  Constitution — better  for  the  poor  black  man  than 
we  have  in  Illinois.  This  was  done  under  military  protection, 
directed  by  me,  in  the  belief,  still  sincerely  entertained,  that 
with  such  a  nucleus  around  which  to  build  we  could  get 
the  State  into  position  again  sooner  than  otherwise.  In 
this  belief  a  general  promise  of  protection  and  support,  ap 
plicable  alike  to  Louisiana  and  other  States,  was  given  in 
the  last  annual  message.  During  the  formation  of  the  new 
government  and  Constitution  they  were  supported  by  nearly 
every  loyal  person,  and  opposed  by  every  secessionist.  And 
this  support  and  this  opposition,  from  the  respective  stand 
points  of  the  parties,  was  perfectly  consistent  and  logical. 
Every  Unionist  ought  to  wish  the  new  government  to  suc 
ceed  ;  and  every  disunionist  must  desire  it  to  fail.  Its  failure 
would  gladden  the  heart  of  Slidell  in  Europe,  and  of  every 
enemy  of  the  old  flag  in  the  world.  Every  advocate  of 
slavery  naturally  desires  to  see  blasted  and  crushed  the 
liberty  promised  the  black  man  by  the  new  Constitution. 
But  why  General  Canby  and  General  Hurlbut  should  join 
on  the  same  side  is  to  me  incomprehensible.  ..." 

After  his  re-election,  in  spite  of  all  opposition,  Lincoln 
steadily  supported  the  new  State  governments.  His  practical 
common  sense  in  dealing  with  a  difficult  problem  never 
showed  to  better  advantage  than  in  the  plan  of  reconstruc 
tion  he  had  offered  and  was  trying.  It  was  not  the  only  plan 
he  kept  repeating,  but  it  was  accomplishing  something,  was 
not  this  something  better  than  nothing?  If  it  proved  bad 
he  would  change  it  for  a  better  one,  if  a  better  was  offered, 
but  until  it  was  shown  that  it  was  adverse  to  the  interests  of 
the  people  he  was  trying  to  bring  back  into  the  Union  he 
should  follow  it.  As  for  the  abstract  question  over  which  a 
great  part  of  the  North  was  quarrelling,  whether  the  seceded 
States  were  in  the  Union  or  out  of  it,  he  would  not  consider 
it.  It  was  "  bad  as  the  basis  of  a  controversy  "  he  declared 


220  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

<md  "  good  for  nothing  at  all — a  merely  pernicious  abstrac* 
tion." 

"We  all  agree,"  he  continued,  "  that  the  seceded  States,  so 
called,  are  out  of  their  proper  practical  relation  with  the 
Union,  and  that  the  sole  object  of  the  government,  civil  and 
military,  in  regard  to  those  States  is  to  again  get  them  into 
the  proper  practical  relation.  I  believe  that  it  is  not  only  pos 
sible,  but  in  fact  easier,  to  do  this  without  deciding  or  even 
considering  whether  these  States  have  ever  been  out  of  the 
Union,  than  with  it.  Finding  themselves  safely  at  home,  it 
would  be  utterly  immaterial  whether  they  had  ever  been 
abroad.  Let  us  all  join  in  doing  the  acts  necessary  to  restor 
ing  the  proper  practical  relations  between  these  States  and  the 
Union,  and  each  forever  after  innocently  indulge  his  own 
opinion  whether  in  doing  the  acts  he  brought  the  States  from 
without  into  the  Union,  or  only  gave  them  proper  assistance, 
they  never  having  been  out  of  it." 

As  the  winter  passed  into  the  spring  the  President  saw 
every  day  that  the  end  was  approaching  and  as  he  realized 
that  at  last  the  mighty  problem  over  which  he  had  agonized 
for  so  many  months  was  unfolding,  as  he  saw  not  only  that 
the  primary  object  for  which  he  had  been  struggling- — the 
Union — was  to  be  attained  but  that  even  before  this  end 
was  attained  the  evil  which  had  caused  all  the  trouble  was  to 
be  eradicated,  he  experienced  a  lofty  exaltation,  a  fresh  real 
ization  that  the  will  of  God  prevails  in  human  affairs. 
From  the  time  of  his  election  he  had  been  animated  by  a 
simple  theory : — If  we  do  right,  God  will  be  with  us  and  if 
God  is  with  us  we  cannot  fail.  He  had  struggled  to  see 
what  was  right  and  no  man  or  men  had  been  able  to  bring  to 
bear  pressure  heavy  enough  to  turn  him  from  a  step  he  had 
concluded  was  right.  Yet  as  the  days  went  on  he  saw  his 
cause  fail  again  and  again.  Many  times  it  seemed  on  the 
verge  of  destruction.  He  pondered  deeply  over  this  seem 
ing  contradiction.  Was  he  wrong  in  his  own  judgment  of 


LINCOLN    IN    1864       ACE   55 
From  photograph  by  Brady  in  the  War  Department  Collection 


HIS  WORK  IN  THE  WINTER  OF  1864-5      221 

what  was  right  or  could  it  be  that  God  had  some  end  in  view 
different  from  either  that  of  the  North  or  South?  Late  in 
1862,  evidently  to  help  clear  up  his  mind,  he  wrote  down  on 
a  slip  of  paper  a  statement  of  the  puzzling  problem.  His 
secretaries  later  found  it  and  published  it  in  their  history. 

"  The  will  of  God  prevails.  In  great  contests  each  party 
claims  to  act  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  God.  Both  may 
be,  and  one  must  be,  wrong.  God  cannot  be  for  and  against 
the  same  thing  at  the  same  time.  In  the  present  civil  war 
it  is  quite  possible  that  God's  purpose  is  something  different 
from  the  purpose  of  either  party ;  and  yet  the  human  instru 
mentalities,  working  just  as  they  do,  are  of  the  best  adapta 
tion  to  effect  his  purpose.  I  am  almost  ready  to  say  that  this 
is  probably  true;  that  God  wills  this  contest,  and  wills  thaf 
it  shall  not  end  yet.  By  his  mere  great  power  on  the  minds 
of  the  now  contestants,  he  could  have  either  saved  or  de 
stroyed  the  Union  without  a  human  contest.  Yet  the  con 
test  began.  And,  having  begun,  he  could  give  the  final  vic 
tory  to  either  side  any  day.  Yet  the  contest  proceeds." 

As  time  went  on  and  his  conviction  that  his  cause  was 
right  grew  stronger,  in  spite  of  the  reverses  he  suffered,  he 
began  to  feel  that  God's  purpose  was  to  wipe  out  slavery  and 
that  the  war  was  a  divine  retribution  on  North  as  well  as 
South  for  the  toleration  of  slavery.  In  a  letter  written  in 
April,  1864,  he  expressed  this  view: 

"  .  .  .At  the  end  of  three  years'  struggle,  the  nation's 
condition  is  not  what  either  party,  or  any  man,  devised  or 
expected.  God  alone  can  claim  it.  Whither  it  is  tending 
seems  plain.  If  God  now  wills  the  removal  of  a  great  wrong,  j 
and  wills  also  that  we  of  the  North,  as  well  as  you  of  the 
South,  shall  pay  fairly  for  our  complicity  in  that  wrong, 
impartial  history  will  find  therein  new  cause  to  attest  and 
revere  the  justice  and  goodness  of  God." 

By  the  spring  of  1865  this  explanation  of  the  continuation 
of  the  war  fully  possessed  him  and  in  his  inaugural  he  laid  it 


-22  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

before  the  people  in  a  few  solemn,  beautiful  sentences — a 
prophet's  cry  to  a  nation  bidding  them  to  complete  the  task 
the  Lord  God  Almighty  had  set  before  them,  and  to  expiate 
in  humility  their  sins. 

"...  The  Almighty  has  his  own  purposes/'  he  said. 
"  '  Woe  unto  the  world  because  of  offenses !  for  it  must  needs 
be  that  offenses  come ;  but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  of 
fense  cometh/  If  we  shall  suppose  that  American  slavery 
is  one  of  those  offenses  which,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
must  needs  come,  but  which,  having  continued  through  his 
appointed  time,  he  now  wills  to  remove,  and  that  he  gives 
to  both  North  and  South  this  terrible  war,  as  the  woe  due 
to  those  by  whom  the  offense  came,  shall  we  discern  therein 
any  departure  from  those  divine  attributes  which  the  be 
lievers  in  a  living  God  always  ascribe  to  him?  Fondly  do 
we  hope — fervently  do  we  pray — that  this  mighty  scourge 
of  war  may  speedily  pass  away.  Yet,  if  God  wills  that  it 
continue  until  all  the  wealth  piled  by  the  bondman's  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  of  unrequited  toil  shall  be  sunk,  and 
until  every  drop  of  blood  drawn  with  the  lash  shall  be  paid 
by  another  drawn  with  the  sword,  as  was  said  three  thou 
sand  years  ago,  so  still  it  must  be  said,  '  The  judgments  of 
the  Lord  are  true  and  righteous  altogether.' 

"  With  malice  toward  none ;  with  charity  for  all ;  with 
firmness  in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let 
us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in,  to  bind  up  the  na 
tion's  wounds ;  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  bat 
tle,  and  for  his  widow,  and  his  orphan — to  do  all  which  may 
achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  our 
selves,  and  with  all  nations." 

It  was  in  this  lofty  spirit  that  Abraham  Lincoln  entered 
on  his  second  term.  Every  act  of  the  few  days  of  that 
term  which  he  served  was  in  full  harmony  with  the  words 
of  his  inaugural.  Although  the  criticism  on  him  for  par 
doning  prisoners  of  war  was  at  that  time  very  bitter,  even 
General  Grant  protesting  against  his  broad  exercise  of  the 
pardoning  power,  he  could  be  persuaded  easily  to  set  free 


HIS  WORK  IN  THE  WINTER  OF  1864-5      223 

any  man  or  men  for  whom  any  honest  official  would  vouch. 
Honorable  John  B.  Henderson,  then  in  the  United  States 
Senate  from  Missouri,  relates  for  this  work  his  experience 
in  securing  pardons  from  Lincoln  in  the  spring  of  1865. 

"  From  1862  to  1865,"  says  Mr.  Henderson,  "  the  con 
ditions  were  such  in  Missouri,  that  every  man  was  obliged 
to  espouse  actively  either  the  Union  or  the  Confederate 
cause.  No  man  really  was  safe  out  of  one  army  or  another. 
Property  was  insecure,  and  if  a  person  attempted  to  remain 
neutral  he  was  suspected  by  both  Confederates  and  Feder 
als,  and  was  liable  to  be  arrested  by  either  side,  and  his  prop 
erty  destroyed.  During  the  progress  of  the  war  a  large 
number  of  Missourians  had  been  arrested  by  the  Federals 
and  were  confined  in  the  military  prisons,  many  of  them  at 
St.  Louis  where  the  McDowell  Medical  College  had  been 
taken  and  used  for  the  purpose,  and  some  at  Alton,  Illinois, 
about  twenty-five  miles  above  St.  Louis  on  the  river.  The 
friends  and  relations  of  many  of  these  military  prisoners 
appealed  to  me  to  secure  their  release,  or  to  save  them  from 
whatever  sentence  had  been  pronounced.  These  sentences, 
of  course,  varied.  In  flagrant  cases  where  they  were  con 
victed  of  acting  as  spies,  or  of  prosecuting  guerilla  warfare, 
the  death  sentence  was  sometimes  ordered  but  not  often 
inflicted.  Others  were  condemned  to  prison  for  life  or  dur 
ing  the  war.  Few  of  the  death  sentences  were  ever  inflicted, 
There  was  a  tacit  understanding  among  the  military  au 
thorities  that  while  a  show  of  severity  be  kept  up  it  was  only 
under  extreme  circumstances  that  a  prisoner  should  be  exe 
cuted.  Towards  the  close  of  the  winter  of  1864-65,  I  found 
that  I  had  a  large  number  of  these  applications  for  clemency 
and  pardon  on  hand. 

"  Congress  adjourned  on  March  4,  1865,  and  Mr.  Lincoln 
on  that  day  was  inaugurated  for  a  second  term.  An  extra 
session  of  the  Senate  only  was  called  immediately  to  act  on 
presidential  nominations,  but  it  continued  in  session  until 
about  the  iSth  of  March.  I  was  anxious  to  clear  up  as  many 
as  possible  of  these  imprisonment  cases  before  leaving  for 
home.  I  accordingly  had  mv  clerk  classify  them,  according 


224  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

to  the  evidence  in  each  case,  giving  the  name  of  the  pris 
oner,  the  character  of  his  offense,  together  with  a  statement 
of  the  proofs  or  evidence  against  him.  I  caused  them  to 
be  divided  into  three  classes.  Into  the  first  class  I  put  those 
of  whose  innocence  I  had  but  little  doubt;  into  the  second 
class  those  whose  innocence  was  more  doubtful,  but  whom 
I  believed  it  would  be  safe  and  proper,  under  the  circum 
stances,  to  release;  the  third  class  consisted  of  those  who 
ought  still  to  be  retained  in  confinement.  As  I  had  very 
little  time  before  leaving  for  the  West,  I  took  the  first  and 
second  classes  to  the  President  and  asked  their  pardon  and 
release. 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  looked  over  the  list  and  then  said :  '  Do 
you  mean  to  tell  me,  Henderson,  that  you  wish  me  to  let 
loose  all  these  people  at  once  ?  ' 

"  '  Yes,'  I  said,  *  I  believe  it  can  be  easily  done/ 

"  '  But/  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  '  I  have  no  time  to  examine 
the  evidence.  I  am  constantly  reproached  for  my  too  abun 
dant  charity,  and  what  would  be  said  if  I  should  turn  loose 
so  many  sinners  at  once.  And  again  what  would  be  the  in 
fluence  in  Missouri? ' 

"  '  I  believe,  Mr.  President/  I  said,  '  that  the  influence 
would  be  most  beneficial.  The  war  is  nearly  over.  The  day 
for  generosity  and  kindness  has  come/ 

"  '  Do  you  really  think  so  ?  '  said  the  President. 

"  *  Yes,  the  rebellion  is  broken ;  the  rebels  will  soon  be 
returning  to  their  homes  if  permitted  to  do  so.  What  I  es 
pecially  wish  is  to  prevent  in  my  State  a  prolonged  guerilla 
warfare.  The  rebels  are  already  conquered  in  war.  Let 
us  try  charity  and  kindness  rather  than  repression  and  sever 
ity.  The  policy  of  mercy  will  prove  to  be  a  wise  reconstruc 
tion  measure/ 

"  '  I  hope  you  are  right/  said  the  President ;  '  but  I  have 
no  time  to  examine  this  evidence.  If  I  sign  this  list  as  a 
whole,  will  you  be  responsible  for  the  future  good  behavior 
of  the  men  ?  ' 

"  « Yes/  I  said. 

" '  Then  I  will  take  the  risk  and  sign  it,"  said  the  Presi 
dent.  And  after  inserting,  in  his  own  hand-writing,  the 
word  '  pardoned '  after  the  name  of  each  person  who  had 


HIS  WORK  IN  THE  WINTER  OF  1864-5       225 

been  convicted  of  offenses  by  military  commission,  he  signed 
the  general  order  of  release,  and  returned  the  paper  to  me. 

"  '  Thank  you,  Mr.  President;  but  that  is  not  all;  I  have 
another  list  here.' 

"  '  I  hope  you  are  not  going  to  make  me  let  loose  another 
lot?' 

"  *  Yes.  I  am  not  quite  so  sure  of  the  merits  of  this  list, 
but  I  believe  the  men  are  not  dangerous,  and  it  will  be  good 
policy  to  let  them  go.  I  think  it  safer  and  better  to  err  on 
the  side  of  mercy.' 

"  '  Yes,'  said  Mr.  Lincoln ;  '  but  you  know  I  am  charged 
with  making  too  many  mistakes  on  the  side  of  mercy.' 

"  '  Mr.  President,  my  argument  for  this  is  the  same  as 
in  the  other  case.  The  war  is  substantially  over.  The  guilt 
of  these  men  is  at  least  doubtful  And  mercy  is  and  must 
be  after  all  the  policy  of  peace.' 

"  '  I  guess  you  are  right,'  said  Mr.  Lincoln. 

"  '  Yes,'  I  said,  1 1  am  sure  I  am,  and  I  think  that  you 
ought  to  sign  it.' 

"  '  Well,  I'll  be  durned  if  I  don't,'  said  the  President,  and 
he  signed  his  name  after  inserting  the  word  '  pardoned ' 
over  the  name  of  those  laboring  under  conviction. 

"  This  was  the  only  time  that  I  ever  heard  Mr.  Lincoln  use 
a  word  which  approached  profanity. 

"  *  Now,  Henderson,'  he  said,  as  he  handed  the  list  back 
to  me,  '  remember  you  are  responsible  to  me  for  these  men. 
If  they  do  not  behave,  I  shall  have  to  put  you  in  prison  for 
their  sins.'  " 


A  few  days  after  this  interview  with  Mr.  Henderson  the 
President  decided  to  take  a  holiday — the  first  he  had  taken 
since  he  entered  the  White  House  in  1861.  Boarding  a 
river  steamer  with  a  few  friends  he  went  to  City  Point  on 
the  James  River,  where  General  Grant  had  his  headquar 
ters.  Here  he  could  not  possibly  be  reached  by  the  office- 
seekers  incident  to  a  new  term  and  here,  too,  he  would  be 
near  the  operations  which  he  felt  would  soon  end  the  war. 

Grant's  headquarters  at  this  time  were  in  a  group  of  cot- 


226  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

tages  on  a  high  bluff  at  the  juncture  of  the  Appomattox  and 
James  Rivers.  It  was  a  point  which  commanded  a  view  of 
a  wide  and  active  scene,  including  many  places  made  his 
toric  by  the  operations  of  the  four  years  just  past.  To  the 
north  were  the  flats  of  Bermuda  Hundred,  with  the  con 
spicuous  look-out  tower,  with  tents  and  barracks  and 
wharves ;  beyond  the  wooded  slopes  of  Malvern  Hill.  Look- 
Ing  eastward  across  the  great  bay  which  the  confluence  of 
the  two  rivers  makes  here,  could  be  seen  Harrison's  Landing. 
On  every  side  wharves  ran  out  from  the  shore.  Here  night 
and  day  steamers,  transports,  gun  boats  were  coming  and 
going,  unloading  men  and  supplies,  carrying  away  wounded 
and  prisoners.  The  President's  little  steamer  anchored  at 
the  foot  of  the  bluff  and  here  he  lived  for  some  ten  days. 
It  had  been  intended  that  on  the  day  of  his  arrival  at  City 
Point,  March  25,  the  President  should  review  a  portion  of 
the  troops  on  the  Petersburg  line,  but  that  morning  the  final 
struggle  between  besieged  and  besiegers  was  begun  by  the 
unexpected  attack  of  the  Confederates  on  Fort  Stedman.  A 
terrific  battle  followed  and  the  review  was  deferred.  Com 
parative  quiet  followed  this  attack  for  some  five  days  and  in 
this  interim  Lincoln  visited  the  lines  behind  Petersburg  with 
Grant  several  times  to  review  the  troops  and  watch  the  op 
erations,  and  he  spent  considerable  time  sailing  up  and  down 
the  river  with  Admiral  Porter  on  his  flag-ship. 

Two  days  after  tLe  President  reached  City  Point  Sher 
man,  whose  army  had  since  the  fall  of  Atlanta,  marched 
to  the  sea  and  as  far  northward  as  Goldsboro,  North  Caro 
lina,  and  was  now  expecting  soon  to  meet  the  Confederate 
army  under  Johnston,  came  to  City  Point  to  confer  with 
Grant  and  Lincoln.  Both  generals  agreed  that  their  work 
was  nearly  over,  but  each  thought  he  must  fight  another 
great  battle.  The  President  urged  them  to  avoid  this  if 
sible.  "  No  more  blood-shed,"  was  his  repeated  counsel. 


HIS  WORK  IN  THE  WINTER  OF  1864-5       227 

Grant's  final  movements  began  on  March  31.  Lincoln  at 
City  Point  sat  all  day  in  the  telegraph  office  at  headquarters 
as  at  critical  moments  he  did  in  Washington,  receiving  re 
ports  from  Grant  and  sending  them  on  to  Stanton.  It  was 
he  who  first  informed  the  War  Department  of  Sheridan's 
success  at  Five  Points  on  April  i.  It  was  he  who  on  the 
morning  of  April  3  wired  the  Secretary  of  War  that  at  last 
Petersburg  was  evacuated  and  Richmond  said  to  be.  A 
few  hours  later  he  went  at  Grant's  request  to  Petersburg 
for  a  last  interview  with  the  general  before  he  followed  his 
army  which  was  now  moving  after  the  retreating  Confed 
erate  army.  The  city  had  suffered  terribly  from  the  long 
siege,  many  of  its  houses  being  destroyed  and  all  being  more 
or  less  riddled  by  shot  and  shell.  Even  to-day  a  visitor  to 
Petersburg  is  shown  house  after  house  where  great  cannon 
balls  are  embedded  in  the  walls.  As  Lincoln  rode  through 
the  streets,  busy  as  he  was  with  the  stupendous  event  he 
had  so  long  desired,  he  noticed  the  destruction  with  a  sorry 
shake  of  his  head.  The  talk  with  Grant  was  held  on  the 
porch  of  a  comfortable  house  still  standing,  and  then  the 
two  parted,  Grant  to  go  to  Appomattox,  Lincoln  to  City 
Point. 

The  news  of  the  abandonment  of  Richmond  on  April  2 
had  by  this  time  reached  City  Point.  Lincoln's  first  excla 
mation  on  receiving  the  news  was  "  I  want  to  see  Rich 
mond."  A  party  was  at  once  arranged  and  on  the  morning 
of  April  4  he  started  up  the  river.  The  trip  must  have  been 
full  of  exciting  interest  to  the  President,  leading  as  it  did 
by  a  score  of  places  which  had  been  made  forever  famous 
by  the  struggles  of  war  which  he  knew  now  to  be  over — 
Malvern  Hill,  Deep  Bottom,  Dutch  Gap,  Varina!  It  was 
full  of  real  danger,  too,  for  there  was  no  way  of  knowing 
positively  that  the  stream  was  free  from  torpedoes  or  the 
banks  entirely  cleared  of  the  enemy.  The  entrance  into 


228  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

Richmond  was  even  more  dangerous.  Here  was  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  with  four  companions  and 
a  guard  of  only  ten  marines,  entering  on  foot  a  city 
which  for  four  years  he  had  been  doing  his  utmost  to 
capture  by  force.  That  city  was  in  a  condition  of  the  wild 
est  confusion.  The  army  and  government  had  abandoned 
it.  Fire  had  destroyed  a  large  part  of  it  and  was  still  raging. 
The  Federals  who  had  entered  the  day  before  had  not  as 
yet  established  any  effective  patrol.  A  hostile  people  filled 
the  streets  and  hung  from  the  windows.  And  yet  through 
this  chaos  of  misery,  disorganization,  and  defeat  Abraham 
Lincoln  walked  in  safety.  More,  as  it  was  noised  abroad 
that  he  had  come  his  passage  became  a  triumph.  The  ne 
groes  full  of  superstitious  veneration  for  the  name  of  Lin 
coln  flocked  about  him  weeping.  "  Bres  de  Lord,"  cried 
one,  "  dere  is  de  great  Messiah,"  and  throwing  himself  on 
his  knees  he  kissed  the  President's  feet.  It  was  only  after 
a  long  struggle  that  the  guard  was  able  to  conduct  Mr.  Lin 
coln  from  this  tumultuous  rejoicing  crowd  and  bring  him 
safe  to  the  house  of  Jefferson  Davis — now  the  headquarters 
of  the  federal  troops. 

The  President  remained  two  days  in  Richmond  carefully 
going  over  the  situation  and  discussing  the  best  means  of 
restoring  Union  authority  and  of  dealing  with  the  individ 
uals  who  had  been  in  insurrection.  The  President  was  em 
phatic  in  his  opinion.  The  terms  must  be  liberal.  "  Get 
them  to  plowing  once,"  he  said  in  Admiral  Porter's  pres-. 
ence,  "  and  gathering  in  their  own  little  crops,  eating  pop 
corn  at  their  own  firesides,  and  you  can't  get  them  to  shoul 
der  a  musket  again  for  half  a  century."  Being  cheered  at 
City  Point  the  day  after  he  left  Richmond  by  a  crowd  of 
Confederate  prisoners,  he  said  again  to  Admiral  Porter: 
"  They  will  never  shoulder  a  musket  again  in  angefr,  and  if 
Grant  is  wise  he  will  leave  them  their  guns  to  shoot  crows 


HIS  WORK  IN  THE  WINTER  OF  1864-5       229 

with  and  their  horses  to  plow  with;  it  would  do  no  harm." 
As  to  the  people  of  Richmond  his  one  counsel  to  the  military 
governor  was  to  "  let  them  down  easy."  Nor  would  he 
while  there  listen  to  a  word  of  harshness  in  the  treatment 
of  even  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion.  One  day  when  visiting 
Libby  Prison,  a  member  of  the  party  remarked  to  him  that 
Jefferson  Davis  ought  to  be  hung,  "  Judge  not  that  ye  be 
not  judged/'  Charles  Sumner  heard  him  quote.  No  bit 
terness  was  in  his  soul,  only  a  great  thankfulness  that  the 
end  seemed  so  near  and  a  firm  determination  to  regulate 
with  mercy  all  questions  of  reconstruction. 

Returning  to  City  Point  Mr.  Lincoln  learned  that  Mr. 
Seward  had  been  thrown  from  a  carriage  and  injured  and 
he  resolved  to  go  at  once  to  Washington.  He  had  only  just 
reached  there  when  he  received  word  that  on  April  9  Gen 
eral  Lee  had  surrendered  his  army  to  General  Grant  at  Ap- 
pomattox.  This  could  mean  but  one  thing,  the  war  was 
over.  No  force  was  now  left  to  the  enemy  which  must  not 
surrender  on  hearing  that  the  principal  Confederate  force 
had  laid  down  its  arms.  Immediately  the  President  and  his 
associates  began  the  glad  task  of  shutting  down  the  vast 
war  machinery  in  operation — the  first  act  being  to  issue  an 
order  suspending  the  draft. 


V 


CHAPTER  XXX 

THE   END   OF   THE   WAR 

*  THE  war  is  over/'  Throughout  the  breadth  of  the  North 
this  was  the  jubilant  cry  with  which  people  greeted  one  an 
other  on  the  morning  of  April  14,  1865.  For  ten  days  re 
ports  of  victories  had  been  coming  to  them ;  Petersburg 
evacuated,  Richmond  fallen,  Jefferson  Davis  and  his  cabinet 
fled,  Lee  surrendered,  Mobile  captured.  Nothing  of  the 
Confederacy,  in  short,  remained  but  Johnston's  army,  and 
it  was  generally  believed  that  its  surrender  to  Sherman  was 
but  a  matter  of  hours.  How  completely  the  conflict  was  at  an 
end,  however,  the  people  of  the  North  had  not  realized  until 
they  read  in  their  newspapers,  on  that  Good  Friday  morn 
ing  the  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War  suspending  the  draft, 
stopping  the  purchase  of  military  supplies,  and  removing 
military  restrictions  from  trade.  The  war  was  over  indeed, 

Such  a  day  of  rejoicing  as  followed  the  world  has  rarely 
seen.  At  Fort  Sumter  scores  of  well-known  citizens  of  the 
North,  among  them  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  William  Lloyd 
Garrison,  General  Robert  Anderson,  and  Theodore  Tilton, 
raised  over  the  black  and  shattered  pile  the  flag  which  four 
years  ago  Charleston,  now  lying  desolate  and  wasted,  had 
dragged  down. 

Cities  and  towns,  hamlets  and  country  road-sides  blos 
somed  with  flags  and  bunting.  Stock  exchanges  met  to  pass 
resolutions.  Bells  rang.  Every  man  who  could  make  a 
speech  was  on  his  feet.  It  was  a  Millennium  Day,  restoring 
broken  homes,  quieting  aching  hearts,  easing  distracted 
minds.  Even  those  who  mourned — and  who  could  count  the 
number  whom  that  dreadful  four  year'-  had  stripped  of  those 

230 


THE  END  OF  THE  WAR  231 

they  held  dearest? — even  those  who  mourned  exulted.  Their 
dead  had  saved  a  nation,  freed  a  people.  And  so  a  subtle  joy, 
mingled  triumph,  resignation,  and  hope,  swept  over  the 
North.  It  was  with  all  men  as  James  Russell  Lowell  wrote  to 
his  friend  Norton  that  it  was  with  him :  "  The  news,  my 
dear  Charles  is  from  Heaven.  I  felt  a  strange  and  tender  ex 
altation.  I  wanted  to  laugh  and  I  wanted  to  cry,  and  ended 
by  holding  my  peace  and  feeling  devoutly  thankful/' 

One  man  before  all  others  in  the  nation  felt  and  showed 
his  gladness  that  day — the  President,  Abraham  Lincoln.  For 
weeks  now  as  he  had  seen  the  end  approaching,  little  by  lit 
tle  he  had  been  thankfully  laying  aside  the  ways  of  war  and 
returning  to  those  of  peace.  His  soul,  tuned  by  nature  to  gen 
tleness  and  good-will,  had  been  for  four  years  forced  to  lead 
in  a  pitiless  war.  Now  his  duties  were  to  "  bind  up  the  na 
tion's  wounds ;  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  bat 
tle,  and  for  his  widow,  and  his  orphan ;  "  to  devise  plans  by 
which  the  members  of  the  restored  Union  could  live  together 
in  harmony,  to  plan  for  the  future  of  the  four  million  human 
beings  to  whom  he  had  given  freedom.  All  those  who  were 
with  him  in  this  period  remarked  the  change  in  his  feelings 
and  his  ways.  He  seemed  to  be  aroused  to  a  new  sense  of 
the  beauty  of  peace  and  rest,  to  love  to  linger  in  quiet 
spots,  and  to  read  over  and  over  with  infinite  satisfac 
tion  lines  of  poetry  which  expressed  repose.  The  perfect 
tranquillity  in  death  seemed  especially  to  appeal  to  him. 
Mrs.  Lincoln  once  related  to  her  friend,  Isaac  Arnold,  that, 
while  at  City  Point,  in  April,  she  was  driving  one  day  with 
her  husband  along  the  banks  of  the  James,  when  they  passed 
a  country  grave-yard.  "  It  was  a  retired  place,  shaded 
by  trees,  and  early  spring  flowers  were  opening  on  nearly 
every  grave.  It  was  so  quiet  and  attractive  that  they 
stopped  the  carriage  and  walked  through  it.  Mr.  Lincoln 
seemed  thoughtful  and  impressed.  He  said :  *  Mary,  yon 


232  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

are  younger  than  I.     You  will  survive  me.     When  I  am 
gone,  lay  my  remains  in  some  quiet  place  like  this.' ' 

A  few  days  after  this,  as  he  was  sailing  down  the  James 
bound  for  Washington,  Charles  Sumner,  who  was  in  the 
party,  was  much  impressed  by  the  tone  and  manner  in  which 
Mr.  Lincoln  read  aloud  two  or  three  times  a  passage  from 
Macbeth : 

"  Duncan  is  in  his  grave; 
After  life's  fitful  fever,  he  sleeps  well; 
Treason  has  done  his  worst:  nor  steel,  nor  poison, 
Malice  domestic,  foreign  levy,  nothing, 
Can  touch  him  further! " 

There  was  a  marked  change  in  his  appearance.  All  through 
1863  .and  1864  his  thin  face  had  day  by  day  grown  more  hag 
gard,  its  lines  had  deepened,  its  pallor  had  become  a  more 
ghastly  gray.  His  eye,  always  sad  when  he  was  in  thought, 
had  a  look  of  unutterable  grief.  Through  all  these  months 
Lincoln  was,  in  fact,  consumed  by  sorrow.  "  I  think  I  shall 
never  be  glad  again,"  he  said  once  to  a  friend.  But  as  one  by 
one  the  weights  lifted,  a  change  came  over  him;  his  form 
straightened,  his  face  cleared,  the  lines  became  less  accentu 
ated.  "  His  whole  appearance,  poise,  and  bearing  had  mar 
vellously  changed,"  says  the  Hon.  James  Harlan.  "  He  was 
in  fact,  transfigured.  That  indescribable  sadness  which  had 
previously  seemed  to  be  an  adamantine  element  of  his  very 
being,  had  been  suddenly  changed  for  an  equally  indescriba 
ble  expression  of  serene  joy,  as  if  conscious  that  the  great 
purpose  of  his  life  had  been  achieved." 

Never  since  he  had  become  convinced  that  the  end  of  the 
war  was  near  had  Mr.  Lincoln  seemed  to  his  friends  more 
glad,  more  serene,  than  on  the  I4th  of  April.  The  morning 
was  soft  and  sunny  in  Washington,  and  as  the  spring  was 
early  in  1865,  the  Judas-trees  and  the  dogwood  were  blos 
soming  on  the  hillsides,  the  willows  were  green  along  the 
Potomac,  and  in  the  parks  and  gardens  the  lilacs  bloomed— 


THE    LAST    PORTRAIT    OF    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN,    TAKEN    APRII     Q,     1865,    THE 
SUNDAY   BEFORE    HIS   ASSASSINATION 


Drawn  from  a 
the  Potomac 
1894.  by  Watson  Porter 


im  a  photograph  made  by  Alexander  Gardner,  photographer  to  the  Army  of 
,  while  the  President  was  sharpening  a  pencil  for  his  son  Tad.    Copyright, 


THE  END  OF  THE  WAR  233 

a  day  of  promise  and  joy  to  which  the  whole  town  responded. 
Indeed,  ever  since  the  news  of  the  fall  of  Richmond  reached 
Washington  the  town  had  been  indulging  in  an  almost  un 
broken  celebration,  each  new  victory  arousing  a  fresh  out 
burst  and  rekindling  enthusiasm.  On  the  night  of  the  I3th, 
there  had  been  a  splendid  illumination,  and  on  the  I4th,  the 
rejoicing  went  on.  The  suspension  of  the  draft  and  the 
presence  of  Grant  in  town — come  this  time  not  to  plan  new 
campaigns,  but  to  talk  of  peace  and  reconstruction — seemed 
to  furnish  special  reason  for  celebrating. 

At  the  White  House  the  family  party  which  met  at  break 
fast  was  unusually  happy.  Captain  Robert  Lincoln,  the 
President's  oldest  son,  then  an  aide-de-camp  on  Grant's  staff, 
had  arrived  that  morning,  and  the  closing  scenes  of  Grant's 
campaign  were  discussed  with  the  deepest  interest  by  father 
and  son.  Soon  after  breakfast  the  President  received 
Schuyler  Colfax,  who  was  about  to  leave  for  the  West,  and 
later  in  the  morning  the  cabinet  met,  Friday  being  its  regular 
day.  General  Grant  was  invited  to  remain  to  its  session. 
There  was  the  greatest  interest  at  the  moment  in  General 
Sherman's  movements,  and  Grant  was  plied  with  questions 
by  the  cabinet.  The  President  was  least  anxious  of  all. 
The  news  would  soon  come,  he  said,  and  it  would  be  favor 
able.  He  had  no  doubt  of  this,  for  the  night  before  he  had 
had  a  dream  which  had  preceded  nearly  every  important 
event  of  the  war. 

"  He  said  it  was  in  my  department,  it  related  to  the 
water,"  Secretary  Welles  afterward  wrote ;  "  that  he  seemed 
to  be  in  a  singular  and  indescribable  vessel,  but  always  the 
same,  and  that  he  was  moving  with  great  rapidity  toward  a 
dark  and  indefinite  shore;  that  he  had  had  this  singular 
dream  preceding  the  firing  on  Sumter,  the  battles  of  Bull 
Run,  Antietam,  Gettysburg,  Stone  River,  Vicksburg,  Wil 
mington,  etc.  .  .  .  Victory  did  not  always  follow  his  dream, 


234 


LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 


but  the  event  and  results  were  important.  He  had  no  doubt 
that  a  battle  had  taken  place,  or  was  about  being  fought, '  and 
Johnston  will  be  beaten,  for  I  had  this  strange  dream  again 
last  night.  It  must  relate  to  Sherman;  my  thoughts  are  in 
that  direction,  and  /  know  of  no  other  very  important  event 
which  is  likely  just  now  to  occur' ' 

The  greater  part  of  the  meeting  was  taken  up  with  a  dis 
cussion  of  the  policy  of  reconstruction.  How  were  they  to 
treat  the  States  and  the  men  who  had  tried  to  leave  the 
Union,  but  who  now  were  forced  back  into  their  old  rela 
tions?  How  could  practical  civil  government  be  reestab 
lished;  how  could  trade  be  restored  between  North  and 
South;  what  should  be  done  with  those  who  had  led  the 
States  to  revolt  ?  The  President  urged  his  cabinet  to  consider 
carefully  all  these  questions,  and  he  warned  them  em 
phatically,  Mr.  Welles  says,  that  he  did  not  sympathize  with 
and  would  not  participate  in  any  feelings  of  hate  and  vin- 
dictiveness.  "  He  hoped  there  would  be  no  persecution,  no 
bloody  work,  after  the  war  was  over.  None  need  expect  he 
would  take  any  part  in  hanging  or  killing  these  men,  even 
the  worst  of  them.  Frighten  them  out  of  the  country,  let 
down  the  bars,  scare  them  off,  said  he,  throwing  up  his  hands 
as  if  scaring  sheep.  Enough  lives  have  been  sacrificed.  We 
must  extinguish  our  resentment  if  we  expect  harmony  and 
union.  There  was  too  much  desire  on  the  part  of  our  very 
good  friends  to  be  masters,  to  interfere  with  and  dictate  to 
those  States,  to  treat  the  people  not  as  fellow-citizens ;  there 
was  too  little  respect  for  their  rights.  He  didn't  sympathize 
in  these  feelings." 

The  impression  he  made  on  all  the  cabinet  that  day  was  ex 
pressed  twenty-four  hours  later  by  Secretary  Stanton :  "  He 
was  more  cheerful  and  happy  than  I  had  ever  seen  him,  re 
joiced  at  the  near  prospect  of  firm  and  durable  peace  at  home 
and  abroad,  manifested  in  marked  degree  the  kindness  and 


THE  END  OF  THE  WAR  ^55 

humanity  of  his  disposition,  and  the  tender  and  forgiving 
spirit  that  so  eminently  distinguished  him." 

In  the  afternoon  the  President  went  for  his  usual  drive. 
Only  Mrs.  Lincoln  was  with  him.  Years  afterward  Mrs. 
Lincoln  related  to  Isaac  Arnold  what  she  remembered  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  words  that  day :  "  Mary,"  he  said,  "  we  have  had 
a  hard  time  of  it  since  we  came  to  Washington ;  but  the  war 
is  over,  and  with  God's  blessing  we  may  hope  for  four  years 
of  peace  and  happiness,  and  then  we  will  go  back  to  Illinois, 
and  pass  the  rest  of  our  lives  in  quiet.  We  have  laid  by  some 
money,  and  during  this  term  we  will  try  and  save  up  more, 
but  shall  not  have  enough  to  support  us.  We  will  go  back  to 
Illinois,  and  I  will  open  a  law  office  at  Springfield  or  Chicago, 
and  practice  law,  and  at  least  do  enough  to  help  give  us  a 
livelihood." 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  he  returned  from  his 
drive,  and  as  he  left  his  carriage  he  saw  going  across  the 
lawn  toward  the  Treasury  a  group  of  friends,  among  them 
Richard  Oglesby,  then  Governor  of  Illinois.  "  Come  back, 
boys,  come  back,"  he  shouted.  The  party  turned,  joined  the 
President  on  the  portico,  and  went  up  to  his  office  with  him. 

"  How  long  we  remained  there  I  do  not  remember,"  says 
Governor  Oglesby.  "  Lincoln  got  to  reading  some  humorous 
book ;  I  think  it  was  by  (  John  Phoenix/  They  kept  sending 
for  him  to  come  to  dinner.  He  promised  each  time  to  go,  but 
would  continue  reading  the  book.  Finally  he  got  a  sort  of 
peremptory  order  that  he  must  come  to  dinner  at  once.  It 
was  explained  to  me  by  the  old  man  at  the  door  that  they 
were  going  to  have  dinner  and  then  go  to  the  theater." 

A  theater  party  had  been  made  up  by  Mrs.  Lincoln  for  that 
evening — General  and  Mrs.  Grant  being  her  guests — to  see 
Laura  Keene,  at  Ford's  theater,  in  "  Our  American  Cousin." 
Miss  Keene  was  ending  her  season  in  Washington  that  night 
with  a  benefit.  The  box  had  been  ordered  in  the  morning, 


236  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

and  unusual  preparations  had  been  made  to  receive  the  presi 
dential  party.  The  partition  between  the  two  upper  proscen- 
ium  boxes  at  the  left  of  the  stage  had  been  removed,  com 
fortable  upholstered  chairs  had  been  put  in,  and  the  front  of 
the  box  had  been  draped  with  flags.  The  manager,  of 
course,  took  care  to  announce  in  the  afternoon  papers  that 
the  "  President  and  his  lady  "  and  the  "  Hero  of  Appo- 
mattox  "  would  attend  Miss  Keene's  benefit  that  evening. 

By  eight  o'clock  the  house  was  filled  with  the  half-idle, 
half-curious  crowd  of  a  holiday  night.  Many  had  come 
simply  to  see  General  Grant,  whose  face  was  then  unfamiliar 
in  Washington.  Others,  strolling  down  the  street,  had 
dropped  in  because  they  had  nothing  better  to  do.  The  play 
began  promptly,  the  house  following  its  nonsensical  fun  with 
friendly  eyes  and  generous  applause,  one  eye  on  the  Presi 
dent's  box. 

The  presidential  party  was  late.  Indeed  it  had  not  left  the 
White  House  until  after  eight  o'clock,  and  then  it  was  made 
up  differently  from  what  Mrs.  Lincoln  had  expected,  for  in 
the  afternoon  she  had  received  word  that  General  and  Mrs. 
Grant  had  decided  to  go  North  that  night.  It  was  suggested 
then  that  the  party  be  given  up,  but  the  fear  that  the  public 
would  be  disappointed  decided  the  President  to  keep  the  en 
gagement.  Two  young  friends,  the  daughter  of  Senator  Ira 
Harris  and  his  stepson,  Major  H.  R.  Rathbone,  had  been  in 
vited  to  take  the  place  of  General  and  Mrs.  Grant. 

Schuyler  Colfax  and  Mr.  Ashmun,  of  Massachusetts,  had 
called  early  in  the  evening,  and  the  President  had  talked  with 
them  a  little  while.  He  rose  finally  with  evident  regret  to  go 
to  his  carriage.  The  two  gentlemen  accompanied  him  to  the 
door,  and  he  paused  there  long  enough  to  write  on  a  card, 
"Allow  Mr.  Ashmun  and  friends  to  come  in  at  nine  A.  M.  to 
morrow."  As  he  shook  hands  with  them  he  said  to  Mr.  Col- 
fax  :  "  Colfax,  don't  forget  to  tell  those  people  in  the  mining 


THE  END  OF  THE  WAR  237 


THE  LAST  BIT  OF  WRITING  DONE  BY  LINCOLN. 

Loaned  by  G.  A.  Morton,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

regions  what  I  told  you  this  morning."  Then,  entering  the 
carriage,  he  was  driven  to  the  theater  on  Tenth  street,  be 
tween  E  and  F. 

When  the  presidential  party  finally  entered  the  theater, 
making  its  way  along  the  gallery  behind  the  seats  of  the  dress 
circle,  the  orchestra  broke  into  "'  Hail  to  the  Chief,"  and  the 
people,  rising  in  their  seats  and  waving  hats  and  handker 
chiefs,  cheered  and  cheered,  the  actors  on  the  stage  standing 
silent  in  the  meantime.  The  party  passed  through  the  nar 
row  entrance  into  the  box,  and  the  several  members  laid  aside 
their  wraps,  and  bowing  and  smiling  to  the  enthusiastic 
crowd  below,  seated  themselves,  Mr.  Lincoln  in  a  large  arm 
chair  at  the  left,  Mrs.  Lincoln  next  to  him,  Miss  Harris  next, 
and  to  the  extreme  right,  a  little  behind  Miss  Harris,  Major 
Rathbone  ;  and  then  the  play  went  on. 

The  party  in  the  box  was  well  entertained,  it  seemed,  es 
pecially  the  President,  who  laughed  good-humoredly  at  the 
jokes  and  chatted  cheerfully  between  the  acts.  He  moved 
from  his  seat  but  once,  rising  then  to  put  on  his  overcoat,  for 
the  house  was  chilly.  The  audience  was  well  entertained, 


238  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

too,  though  not  a  few  kept  an  eye  on  the  box  entrance,  still 
expecting  General  Grant.  The  few  whose  eyes  sought  the 
box  now  and  then  noticed,  in  the  second  scene  of  the  third 
act,  that  a  man  was  passing  behind  the  seats  of  the  dress  cir 
cle  and  approaching  the  entrance  to  the  box.  Those  who  did 
not  know  him  noticed  that  he  was  strikingly  handsome, 
though  very  pale ;  that  was  all.  They  did  not  look  again.  It 
was  not  General  Grant. 

One  man  did  watch  him.  He  knew  him,  and  wanted  to 
see  who  in  the  presidential  box  it  could  be  that  he  knew  well 
enough  to  call  on  in  the  middle  of  an  act.  If  any  attendant 
saw  him,  there  was  no  question  of  his  movements.  He  was  a 
privileged  person  in  the  theater,  having  free  entrance  to 
every  corner.  He  had  been  there  in  the  course  of  the  day; 
he  had  passed  out  and  in  once  or  twice  during  the  evening. 

Crowding  behind  some  loose  chairs  in  the  aisle,  the  man 
passed  out  of  sight  through  the  door  leading  into  the  pas 
sage  behind  the  President's  box.  He  closed  the  door  behind 
him,  paused  for  a  moment,  then  did  a  curious  thing  for  a 
visitor  to  a  theater  party.  He  picked  up  a  piece  of  stout 
plank  which  he  seemed  to  know  just  where  to  find,  and 
slipped  one  end  into  a  hole  gouged  into  the  wall  close  to  the 
door-casing.  The  plank  extended  across  the  door,  making 
a  rough  but  effective  bolt.  Turning  to  the  door  which  led 
from  the  passage  to  the  boxes,  he  may  have  peered  through 
a  tiny  hole  which  had  been  drilled  through  the  panel.  If  he 
did,  he  saw  a  quiet  party  intent  on  the  play,  the  President 
just  then  smiling  over  a  bit  of  homely  wit. 

Opening  the  door  so  quietly  that  no  one  heard  him,  the 
man  entered  the  box.  Then  if  any  eye  in  the  house  could  but 
have  looked,  if  one  head  in  the  box  had  been  turned,  it  would 
have  been  seen  that  the  man  held  in  his  right  hand  a  Derrin 
ger  pistol,  and  that  he  raised  the  weapon  and  aimed  it 
steadily  at  the  head  of  the  smiling  President. 


THE  END  OP  THE  WAR  239 

No  eye  saw  him,  but  a  second  later  and  every  ear  heard  a 
pistol  shot.  Those  in  the  house  unfamiliar  with  the  play 
thought  it  a  part  of  the  performance,  and  waited  expectant. 
Those  familiar  with  "  Our  American  Cousin,"  the  orches 
tra,  attendants,  actors,  searched  in  amazement  to  see  from 
where  the  sound  came.  Only  three  persons  in  all  the  house 
knew  just  where  it  was — three  of  the  four  in  the  box  knew  it 
was  there  by  their  side — a  tragedy.  The  fourth  saw  nothing, 
heard  nothing,  thought  nothing.  His  head  had  fallen  quietly 
on  his  breast,  his  arms  had  relaxed  a  little,  the  smile  was  still 
on  his  lips. 

Then  from  the  box,  now  filled  with  white  smoke,  came  a 
woman's  sharp  cry,  and  there  was  a  sound  of  a  struggle. 
Major  Rathbone,  at  the  sound  of  the  shot,  had  sprung  to  his 
feet  and  grappled  with  the  stranger,  who  now  had  a  dagger 
in  his  hand,  and  who  struck  viciously  with  it  at  the  Major's 
heart.  He,  warding  the  blow  from  his  breast,  received  it  in 
his  upper  arm,  and  his  hold  relaxed.  The  stranger  sprang  to 
the  balustrade  of  the  box  as  if  about  to  leap,  but  Major  Rath- 
bone  caught  at  his  garments.  They  were  torn  from  his 
grasp,  and  the  man  vaulted  toward  the  stage,  a  light,  agile 
leap,  which  turned  to  a  plunge  as  the  silken  flag  in  front 
caught  at  a  spur  on  his  boot.  As  the  man  struck  the  floor  his 
left  leg  bent  and  a  bone  snapped,  but  instantly  he  was  up ; 
and  limping  to  the  middle  of  the  stage,  a  long  strip  of  the 
silken  banner  trailing  from  his  spur,  he  turned  full  on  the 
house,  which  still  stared  straight  ahead,  searching  for  the 
meaning  of  the  muffled  pistol  shot.  Brandishing  his  dagger 
and  shouting — so  many  thought,  though  there  were  others 
whose  ears  were  so  frozen  with  amazement  that  they  heard 
nothing — ft  Sic  semper  tyrannis! "  he  turned  to  fly.  Not, 
however,  before  more  than  one  person  in  the  house  had  said 
to  himself,  "  Why,  it  is  John  Wilkes  Booth !  "  Not  before 
others  had  realized  that  the  shot  was  that  of  a  murderer,  that 


240 


LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 


the  woman's  cry  in  the  box  came  from  Mrs.  Lincoln,  that  the 
President  in  all  the  turmoil  alone  sat  calm,  his  head  unmoved 
on  his  breast.  As  these  few  grasped  the  awful  meaning  of 
the  confused  scene,  it  seemed  to  them  that  they  could  not  rise 
nor  cry  out.  They  stretched  out  inarticulate  arms,  struggling 
to  tear  themseb/es  from  the  nightmare  which  held  them. 
When  strength  and  voice  did  return,  they  plunged  over  the 
seats,  forgetting  their  companions,  bruising  themselves,  and 
clambered  to  the  stage,  crying  aloud  in  rage  and  despair, 
"  Hang  him,  hang  him !  "  But  Booth,  though  his  leg  was 
broken,  was  too  quick.  He  struck  with  his  dagger  at  one  who 
caught  him,  plunged  through  a  familiar  back  exit,  and,  leap 
ing  upon  a  horse  standing  ready  for  him,  fled.  When  those 
who  pursued  reached  the  street,  they  heard  only  the  rapidly 
receding  clatter  of  a  horse's  hoofs. 

But  while  a  few  in  the  house  pursued  Booth,  others  had 
thought  only  of  reaching  the  box.  The  stage  was  now  full  of 
actors  in  their  paint  and  furbelows,  musicians  with  their  in 
struments,  men  in  evening  dress,  officers  in  uniform — a  mot 
ley,  wild-eyed  crowd  which,  as  Miss  Harris  appeared  at  the 
edge  of  the  box  crying  out,  "  Bring  water.  Has  any  one 
stimulants?"  demanded,  "What  is  it?  What  is  the  mat 
ter?" 

"  The  President  is  shot,"  was  her  reply. 

A  surgeon  was  helped  over  the  balustrade  into  the  box. 
The  star  of  the  evening,  whose  triumph  this  was  to  have 
been,  strove  to  calm  the  distracted  throng;  then  she,  too, 
sought  the  box.  Major  Rathbone,  who  first  of  all  in  the 
house  had  realized  that  a  foul  crime  had  been  attempted,  had 
turned  from  his  unsuccessful  attempt  to  stop  the  murderer 
to  see  that  it  was  the  President  who  had  been  shot.  He  had 
rushed  to  the  door  of  the  passage,  where  men  were  already 
beating  in  a  furious  effort  to  gain  admission,  and  had  found 
it  barred.  It  was  an  instant  before  he  could  pull  away  the 


THE  END  OF  THE  WAR  241 

plank,  explain  the  tragedy,  demand  surgeons,  and  press  back 
the  crowd. 

The  physicians  admitted  lifted  the  silent  figure,  still  sitting 
calmly  in  the  chair,  stretched  it  on  the  floor,  and  began  to 
tear  away  the  clothing  to  find  the  wound,  which  they  sup 
posed  was  in  the  breast.  It  was  a  moment  before  it  was  dis 
covered  that  the  ball  had  entered  the  head  back  of  the  left  ear 
and  was  imbedded  in  the  brain. 

There  seemed  to  be  but  one  desire  then :  that  was  to  get 
the  wounded  man  from  the  scene  of  the  murder.  Two  per* 
sons  lifted  him,  and  the  stricken  party  passed  from  the  box, 
through  the  dress  circle,  down  the  stairs  into  the  street,  the 
blood  dripping  from  the  wound  faster  and  faster  as  they 
went.  No  one  seemed  to  know  where  they  were  going,  for  as 
they  reached  the  street  there  was  a  helpless  pause  and  an  ap 
peal  from  the  bearers,  "  Where  shall  we  take  him  ?  "  Across 
the  street,  on  the  high  front  steps  of  a  plain,  three-storied 
brick  house,  stood  a  man,  who  but  a  moment  before  had  left 
the  theater,  rather  bored  by  the  play.  He  had  seen,  as  he 
stood  there  idly  wondering  if  he  should  go  in  to  bed  or  not,  a 
violent  commotion  in  the  vestibule  of  the  theater;  had  seen 
people  rushing  out,  the  street  filling  up,  policemen  and  sol 
diers  appearing.  He  did  not  know  what  it  all  meant.  Then 
two  men  bearing  a  body  came  from  the  theater,  behind  them 
a  woman  in  evening  gown,  flowers  in  her  hair,  jewels  on  her 
neck.  She  was  wringing  her  hands  and  moaning.  The  man 
on  the  steps  heard  some  one  say,  "  The  President  is  shot ;  " 
heard  the  bearers  of  the  body  asking,  "  Where  shall  we  take 
him  ?  "  and  quickly  coming  forward,  he  said,  "  iBring  him 
here  into  my  room." 

And  so  the  President  was  carried  up  the  high  steps, 
through  a  narrow  hall,  and  laid,  still  unconscious,  still  mo 
tionless,  on  the  bed  of  a  poor,  little,  commonplace  room  of  a 
commonplace  lodging-house,  where  surgeons  and  physicians 
'16) 


242  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

gathered  about  in  a  desperate  attempt  to  rescue  him  from 
death. 

While  the  surgeons  worked  the  news  was  spreading  to  the 
town.  Every  man  and  woman  in  the  theater  rushed  forth  to 
tell  it.  Some  ran  wildly  down  the  streets,  exclaiming  to 
those  they  met,  "  The  President  is  killed !  The  President  is 
killed ! "  One  rushed  into  a  ball-room,  and  told  it  to  the 
dancers ;  another  bursting  into  a  room  where  a  party  of  emi 
nent  public  men  were  playing  cards,  cried,  "  Lincoln  is 
shot !  "  Another,  running  into  the  auditorium  of  Grover's 
Theater,  cried,  "  President  Lincoln  has  been  shot  in  his  pri 
vate  box  at  Ford's  Theater."  Those  who  heard  the  cry 
thought  the  man  insane  or  drunk,  but  a  moment  later  they 
saw  the  actors  in  a  combat  called  from  the  stage,  the  mana 
ger  coming  forward.  His  face  was  pale,  his  voice  agonized, 
as  he  said,  "  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  say 
to  you  that  the  announcement  made  from  the  front  of  the 
theater  just  now  is  true,  President  Lincoln  has  been  shot." 
One  ran  to  summon  Secretary  Stanton.  A  boy  picked  up  at 
the  door  of  the  house  where  the  President  lay  was  sent  to  the 
White  House  for  Robert  Lincoln.  The  news  spread  by  the 
very  force  of  its  own  horror,  and  as  it  spread  it  met  other 
news  no  less  terrible.  At  the  same  hour  that  Booth  had  sent 
the  ball  into  the  President's  brain,  a  man  had  forced  his  way 
into  the  house  of  Secretary  Seward,  then  lying  in  bed  with  a 
broken  arm,  and  had  stabbed  both  the  Secretary  and  his  son 
Frederick  so  seriously  that  it  was  feared  they  would  die.  In 
his  entrance  and  exit  he  had  wounded  three  other  members 
of  the  household.  Like  Booth,  he  had  escaped.  Horror  bred 
rumor,  and  Secretary  Stanton,  too,  was  reported  wounded, 
while  later  it  was  said  that  Grant  had  been  killed  on  his  way 
North.  Dread  seized  the  town.  "  Rumors  are  so  thick," 
wrote  the  editor  of  the  "  National  Intelligencer  "  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  "  the  excitement  of  this  hour  is  so  in 
tense,  that  wejrcly  entirely  uoon  our  reporters  to  advise  the 


THE  END  OF  THE  WAR  243 

public  of  the  details  and  result  of  this  night  of  horrors.  Evi 
dently  conspirators  are  among  us.  To  what  extent  does  the 
conspiracy  exist  ?  This  is  a  terrible  question.  When  a  spirit 
so  horrible  as  this  is  abroad,  what  man  is  safe  ?  We  can  only 
advise  the  utmost  vigilance  and  the  most  prompt  measures  by 
the  authorities.  We  can  only  pray  God  to  shield  us,  His  un 
worthy  people,  from  further  calamities  like  these." 

The  civil  and  military  authorities  prepared  for  attack  from 
within  and  without.  Martial  law  was  at  once  established. 
The  long  roll  was  beaten;  every  exit  from  the  city  was 
guarded ;  out-going  trains  were  stopped ;  mounted  police  and 
cavalry  clattered  up  and  down  the  street ;  the  forts  were  or 
dered  on  the  alert ;  guns  were  manned. 

In  the  meantime  there  had  gathered  in  the  house  on 
Tenth  Street,  where  the  President  lay,  his  family  physician 
and  intimate  friends,  as  well  as  many  prominent  officials.  Be 
fore  they  reached  him  it  was  known  there  was  no  hope,  that 
the  wound  was  fatal.  They  grouped  themselves  about  the 
bedside  or  in  the  adjoining  rooms,  trying  to  comfort  the 
weeping  wife,  or  listening  awe-struck  to  the  steady  moaning 
and  labored  breathing  of  the  unconscious  man,  which  at 
times  could  be  heard  all  over  the  house.  Stanton  alone 
seemed  able  to  act  methodically.  No  man  felt  the  tragedy 
more  than  the  great  War  Secretary,  for  no  one  in  the  cabinet 
was  by  greatness  of  heart  and  intellect  so  well  able  to  com 
prehend  the  worth  of  the  dying  President ;  but  no  man  in  that 
distracted  night  acted  with  greater  energy  or  calm.  Sum 
moning  the  Assistant  Secretary,  C.  A.  Dana,  and  a  stenog 
rapher,  he  began  dictating  orders  to  the  authorities  on  all 
sides,  notifying  them  of  the  tragedy,  directing  them  what 
precautions  to  take,  what  persons  to  arrest.  Grant,  now  re 
turning  to  Washington,  he  directed  should  be  warned  to  keep 
close  watch  on  all  persons  who  came  close  to  him  in  the  cars 
and  to  see  that  an  engine  be  sent  in  front  of  his  train.  He 
sent  out,  too,  an  official  account  of  the  assassination.  To-day 


244  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

the  best  brief  account  of  the  night's  awful  work  remains  me 
one  which  Secretary  Stanton  dictated  within  sound  of  the 
moaning  of  the  dying  President. 

And  so  the  hours  passed  without  perceptible  change  in  the 
President's  condition,  and  with  only  slight  shifting  of  the 
scene  around  him.  The  testimony  of  those  who  had  wit 
nessed  the  murder  began  to  be  taken  in  an  adjoining  room. 
Occasionally  the  figures  at  the  bedside  changed.  Mrs.  Lin 
coln  came  in  at  intervals,  sobbing  out  her  grief,  and  then  was 
led  away.  This  man  went,  another  took  his  place.  It  was  not 
until  daylight  that  there  came  a  perceptible  change.  Then 
the  breathing  grew  quieter,  the  face  became  more  calm.  The 
doctors  at  Lincoln's  side  knew  that  dissolution  was  near. 
Their  bulletin  of  six  o'clock  read,  "  Pulse  failing; "  that  of 
half-past  six,  "  Still  failing;  "  that  of  seven,  "  Symptoms  of 
immediate  dissolution,"  and  then  at  twenty-two  minutes  past 
seven,  in  the  presence  of  his  son  Robert,  Secretaries  Stanton, 
Welles  and  Usher,  Attorney-General  Speed,  Senator  Sum- 
ner,  Private  Secretary  Hay,  Dr.  Gurley,  his  pastor,  and  sev 
eral  physicians  and  friends,  Abraham  Lincoln  died.  There 
was  a  prayer,  and  then  the  solemn  voice  of  Stanton  broke  the 
stillness,  "  Now  he  belongs  to  the  ages." 

Two  hours  later  the  body  of  the  President,  wrapped  in  an 
American  flag,  was  borne  from  the  house  in  Tenth  Street, 
and  carried  through  the  hushed  streets,  where  already  thou 
sands  of  flags  were  at  half-mast  and  the  gay  buntings  and 
garlands  had  been  replaced  by  black  draperies,  and  where  the 
men  who  for  days  had  been  cheering  in  excess  of  joy  and  re 
lief  now  stood  with  uncovered  heads  and  wet  eyes.  They  car 
ried  him  to  an  upper  room  in  the  private  apartments  of  the 
White  House,  and  there  he  lay  until  three  days  later  a  heart 
broken  people  claimed  their  right  to  look  for  a  last  time  on 
his  face. 


WATCHING   AT    THE    BEDSIDE    OF    THE    DYING    PRESIDENT    ON    THE    NIGHT    OF    AI'klL    14. 

AND    15,    1865. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 
LINCOLN'S  FUNERAL 

THE  first  edition  of  the  morning  papers  in  all  the  cities 
and  towns  of  the  North  told  their  readers  on  Saturday, 
April  15,  1865,  that  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
United  States,  lay  mortally  wounded  in  Washington.  The 
extras  within  the  next  two  hours  told  them  he  was  dead. 
The  first  impulse  of  men  everywhere  seems  to  have  been  to 
doubt.  It  could  not  be.  They  realized  only  too  quickly 
that  it  was  true!  There  was  no  discrediting  the  circum 
stantial  accounts  of  the  later  telegrams.  There  was  no  es 
cape  from  the  horror  and  uncertainty  which  filled  the  air, 
driving  out  the  joy  and  exultation  which  for  days  had  inun 
dated  the  country. 

In  the  great  cities  like  New  York  a  death-like  silence  fol 
lowed  the  spreading  of  the  news — a  silence  made  the  more 
terrible  by  the  presence  of  hundreds  of  men  and  women  walk 
ing  in  the  streets  with  bent  heads,  white  faces,  and  knit 
brows.  Automatically,  without  thought  of  what  their  neigh 
bors  were  doing,  these  men  went  to  their  shops  only  to  send 
away  their  clerks  and  close  their  doors  for  the  day.  Stock 
exchanges  met  only  to  adjourn.  By  ten  o'clock  business  had 
ceased.  It  was  not  only  in  the  cities,  where  the  tension  of 
feeling  is  always  greatest,  that  this  was  true.  It  was  the  same 
in  the  small  towns. 

"  I  was  a  compositor  then,  working  in  a  printing  office  at 
Danville,  Illinois/'  says  Prof.  A.  G.  Draper,  of  Washing 
ton,  D.  C.  "  The  editor  came  into  the  room  early  in  the 
forenoon  with  a  telegram  in  his  hand;  he  was  regarding  it 

245 


246  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

intently,  with  a  pale  face.  Without  saying  a  word  he  passed 
it  to  one  and  another  of  the  compositors.  I  noticed  that  as 
the  men  read  it  they  laid  down  their  sticks,  and  without  a 
word  went,  one  after  another,  took  their  coats  and  hats  off 
the  nails  where  they  were  hanging,  put  them  on,  and  went 
into  the  street.  Finally  the  telegram  was  passed  to  me.  It 
was  the  announcement  that  Lincoln  had  been  shot  the  night 
before  and  had  died  that  morning.  Automatically  I  laid 
down  my  stick,  took  my  hat  and  coat,  and  went  into  the 
street.  It  seemed  to  me  as  if  every  man  in  town  had 
dropped  his  business  just  where  it  was  and  come  out.  There 
was  no  sound;  but  the  people,  with  pale  faces  and  tense 
looks,  regarded  one  another  as  if  questioning  what  would 
happen  next." 

Just  as  the  first  universal  impulse  seems  to  have  been  to 
cease  all  business,  so  the  next  was  to  drag  down  the  banners 
of  victory  which  hung  everywhere  and  replace  them  by  crape. 
New  York  City  before  noon  of  Saturday  was  hung  in  black 
from  the  Battery  to  Harlem.  It  was  not  only  Broadway  and 
Washington  Square  and  Fifth  Avenue  which  mourned.  The 
soiled  windows  of  Five  Points  tenements  and  saloons  were 
draped,  and  from  the  doors  of  the  poor  hovels  of  upper  Man 
hattan  west  of  Central  Park  bits  of  black  weed  were  strung. 
And  so  it  was  in  all  the  cities  and  towns  of  the  North. 
"  About  nine  o'clock  on  Saturday  the  intelligence  reached 
us  of  the  assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  attempt  upon 
Mr.  Seward's  life,"  wrote  Senator  Grimes  from  Burlington, 
Iowa.  "  Immediately  the  people  began  to  assemble  about  the 
'  Hawkeye '  office,  and  soon  Third  Street  became  packed 
with  people.  And  such  expressions  of  horror,  indignation, 
sorrow,  and  wonder  were  never  heard  before.  Shortly,  some 
one  began  to  decorate  his  house  with  the  habiliments  of 
mourning;  and  soon  all  the  business  part  of  the  town,  even 
the  vilest  liquor  dens,  was  shroijded  with  the  outward  signs 


LINCOLN'S  FUNERAL  247 

of  sorrow.  All  business  was  at  once  suspended,  and  not  re 
sumed  during  the  day;  but  every  one  waited  for  further  in 
telligence  from  Washington." 

And  this  was  true  not  only  of  the  towns,  it  was  true  of  the 
distant  farms.  There  the  news  was  slower  in  coming.  A 
traveller  journeying  from  the  town  stopped  to  tell  it  at  a 
farm-house.  The  farmer,  leaving  his  plow,  walked  or  rode 
across  lots  to  repeat  it  to  a  neighbor.  Everywhere  they 
dropped  their  work,  and  everywhere  they  brought  out  a  strip 
of  black  and  tied  it  to  the  door-knob. 

The  awful  quiet  of  the  North  through  the  first  few  hours 
after  the  tragedy  covered  not  grief  alone;  below  it  was  a 
righteous  anger,  which,  as  the  hours  passed,  began  to  break 
out.  It  showed  itself  first  against  those  of  Southern  sympa 
thy  who  were  bold  enough  to  say  they  were  "  glad  of  it."  In 
New  York  a  man  was  heard  to  remark  that  "  it  served  old 
Abe  right."  Cries  of  "  Lynch  him,  lynch  him !  "  were  raised. 
He  was  set  upon  by  the  crowd,  and  escaped  narrowly.  All 
day  the  police  were  busy  hustling  suspected  Copperheads 
away  from  the  mobs  which  seemed  to  rise  from  the  ground 
at  the  first  word  of  treason. 

"  I  was  kept  busy  last  night,"  further  wrote  Senator 
Grimes  from  Burlington,  "  trying  to  prevent  the  destruction 
of  the  store  of  a  foolish  woman  who,  it  was  said,  expressed 
her  joy  at  Mr.  Lincoln's  murder.  Had  she  been  a  man,  so 
much  was  the  old  Adam  aroused  in  me,  I  would  not  have  ut 
tered  a  word  to  save  her." 

In  Cincinnati,  which  had  spent  the  day  and  night  before  in 
the  most  elaborate  jubilation,  the  rage  against  treason  broke 
out  at  the  least  provocation.  "  Some  individuals  of  the  '  but 
ternut  '  inclination,"  says  a  former  citizen,  in  recalling  these 
days,  "  were  knocked  into  the  gutters  and  kicked,  because 
they  would  make  no  expression  of  sorrow,  or  because  of  their 
well-known  past  sympathy  with  the  rebellion.  Others  as 


248  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

Joyal  as  any  suffered  also,  through  mistaken  ideas  of  mean 
ness  on  the  part  of  personal  enemies.  Junius  Brutus  Booth,  a 
brother  of  the  assassin,  was  closing  a  two-weeks5  engage 
ment  at  Pike  Opera  House.  He  was  stopping  at  the  Bur- 
net  House.  While  there  was  no  violent  public  demonstra 
tion  against  him,  it  was  well  known  that  his  life  would  not  be 
worth  a  farthing  should  he  be  seen  on  the  streets  or  in  public. 
Of  course  the  bills  were  taken  down,  and  there  was  no  per 
formance  that  night.  Mr.  Booth  was  well  pleased  quietly  to 
escape  from  the  Burnet  and  disappear." 

In  one  New  Hampshire  town,  where  a  company  of  volun 
teers  from  the  country  had  gathered  to  drill,  only  to  be  met 
by  the  news,  it  was  rumored  that  a  man  in  a  factory  near  by 
had  been  heard  to  say,  "  The  old  abolitionist  ought  to  have 
been  killed  long  ago."  The  volunteers  marched  in  a  body  to 
the  factory,  entered,  and  dragged  the  offender  out  into  the 
road.  There  they  held  a  crude  court-martial.  "  The  company 
surrounded  him,"  says  one  of  the  men,  "  in  such  military  or 
der  as  raw  recruits  could  get  into,  and  questioned  him  as  to 
his  utterances.  He  was  willing  to  do  or  say  anything.  '  Duck 
him ! '  was  the  cry  raised  on  every  hand.  The  canal  was  close 
at  hand,  but  there  were  voices  heard  saying :  '  He's  an  old 
man.  Don't  duck  him.  Send  him  out  of  town.1  And  so  it 
was  done.  He  was  compelled  to  give  three  cheers  for  the 
Stars  and  Stripes.  I  shall  never  forget  his  pitiful  little  *  Hoo 
ray  ! '  He  was  made  to  kneel  down  and  repeat  something  in 
praise  of  Abraham  Lincoln  that  one  of  the  officers  dictated 
to  him,  and  then  he  was  marched  to  his  boarding-place,  given 
certain  minutes  to  pack  up  his  effects,  and  escorted  to  the 
railroad  station,  where  he  was  sent  off  on  the  next  train. 
This  was  a  very  mild  example  of  the  feeling  there  was.  Had 
the  man  been  a  real  American  Copperhead,  he  would 
Scarcely  have  escaped  a  ducking,  and  perhaps  a  drubbing 


LINCOLN'S  FUNERAL  249 

also ;  but  many  said :  '  He's  only  an  Englishman,  and  doesn't 
know  any  better/  ' 

The  most  important  expression  of  the  feeling  was  that  at  a 
great  noon  meeting  held  at  the  Custom  House  in  New  York. 
Among  the  speakers  were  General  Butler,  E.  L.  Chittenden, 
Daniel  L.  Dickinson,  William  P.  Fessenden,  and  General 
Garfield.  The  awful,  wrathful,  righteous  indignation  of  the 
meeting  is  told  in  the  following  citations  from  the  speeches. 

"  If  rebellion  can  do  this  to  the  wise,  the  kind,  the  benevo 
lent  Abraham  Lincoln/'  said  Butler,  "  what  ought  we  to  do 
to  those  who  from  high  places  incited  the  assassin's  mind  and 
guided  the  assassin's  knife?  [Applause,  and  cries  of  *  Hang 
them!']  Shall  we  content  ourselves  with  simply  crushing- 
out  the  strength,  the  power,  the  material  resources  of  the  re 
bellion?  ['  Never,  never.']  Shall  we  leave  it  yet  unsubdued 
to  light  the  torch  of  conflagration  in  our  cities?  Are  we  to 
have  peace  in  fact  or  peace  only  in  name?  [Cries  of  *  In  fact ' 
and  applause.]  Is  this  nation  hereafter  to  live  in  peace,  or 
are  men  to  go  about  in  fear  and  in  dread,  as  in  some  of  the 
countries  of  the  Old  World,  in  times  past,  when  every  man 
feared  his  neighbor,  and  no  man  went  about  except  he  was 
armed  to  the  teeth  or  was  clad  in  panoply  of  steel  ?  This  ques 
tion  is  to  be  decided  this  day,  and  at  this  hour  by  the  Ameri 
can  people.  It  may  be  that  this  is  a  dispensation  of  God, 
through  his  providence,  to  teach  us  that  the  spirit  of  rebellion 
has  not  been  broken  with  the  surrender  of  its  arms."  [Ap 
plause.] 

"  Fellow  citizens,"  said  Garfield,  "  they  have  slain  the 
noblest  and  most  generous  spirit  that  ever  put  down  a  rebel 
lion  on  this  earth.  [Applause.]  It  may  be  almost  impious  to 
say  it ;  but  it  does  seem  to  me  that  his  death  almost  parallels 
that  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  cried  out, '  Father,  forgive  them, 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do.'  But  in  taking  away  that 
life  they  have  left  the  iron  hand  of  the  people  to  fall  upon 
them.  [Great  applause.]  Peace,  forgiveness  and  mercy  are 
the  attributes  of  this  government,  but  Justice  and  Judgment 
with  inexorable  tread  follow  behind,  and  when  they  have 


250  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

slain  love,  when  they  have  despised  mercy,  when  they  have 
rejected  those  that  would  be  their  best  friends,  then  comes 
justice  with  hoodwinked  eyes  and  the  sword." 

The  tense  despair  and  rage  of  the  people  on  Saturday  had 
not  broken  when  they  gathered  on  Sunday  for  worship. 
Never,  perhaps,  in  any  sorrow,  any  disaster  that  this  nation 
has  suffered,  was  there  so  spontaneous  a  turning  to  the 
church  for  consolation  as  on  this  Sabbath  day.  Never,  per 
haps,  did  the  clergy  of  a  country  rise  more  universally  to  con 
sole  the  grief  of  a  people  than  on  this  day.  Everywhere, 
from  East  to  West,  the  death  of  the  President  was  the  theme 
of  the  sermons,  and  men  who  never  before  in  their  lives  had 
said  anything  but  commonplaces  rose  this  day  to  eloquence. 
One  of  the  most  touching  of  the  Sunday  gatherings  was  at 
.Bloomington,  Illinois.  Elsewhere  it  was  only  a  President,  a 
national  leader,  who  had  been  lost;  here  it  was  a  personal 
friend,  and  people  refused  to  be  comforted.  On  Sunday 
morning  there  were  sermons  in  all  the  churches,  but  they 
seemed  in  no  way  to  relieve  the  tension.  Later  in  the  day 
word  was  circulated  that  a  general  out-of-door  meeting 
would  be  held  at  the  court-house,  and  people  gathered  from 
far  and  near,  townspeople  and  country  people,  in  the  yard 
about  the  court-house,  where  for  years  they  had  been  accus 
tomed  to  see  Lincoln  coming  and  going ;  and  the  ministers  of 
the  town,  all  of  them  his  friends,  talked  one  after  another, 
until  finally,  comforted  and  resigned,  the  people  separated 
silently  and  went  home. 

On  Monday  a  slight  distraction  came  in  the  announcement 
of  the  plan  for  the  funeral  ceremonies.  After  much  discus 
sion,  it  had  been  decided  that  a  public  funeral  should  be  held 
in  Washington,  and  that  the  body  should  then  lie  in  state  for 
brief  periods  at  each  of  the  larger  cities  on  the  way  to 
Springfield,  whither  it  was  to  be  taken  for  burial.  The  neces 
sity  of  at  once  beginning  preparations  for  tb*  reception  of  the 


LINCOLN'S  FUNERAL  251 

funeral  party   furnished  the  first  real  relief  to  the  universal 
grief  which  had  paralyzed  the  country. 

The  dead  President  had  lain  in  an  upper  chamber  of  the 
White  House  from  the  time  of  his  removal  there  on  Satur 
day  morning  until  Tuesday  morning,  when  he  was  laid  un 
der  a  magnificent  catafalque  in  the  centre  of  the  great  East 
Room.  Although  there  were  in  Washington  many  citizens 
who  sympathized  with  the  South,  although  the  plot  for  as 
sassination  had  been  developed  there,  yet  no  sign  appeared 
of  any  feeling  but  grief  and  indignation.  It  is  said  that  there 
were  not  fifty  houses  in  the  city  that  were  not  draped  in 
black,  and  it  seemed  as  if  every  man,  woman,  and  child  were 
seeking  some  souvenir  of  the  tragedy.  A  child  was  found  at 
the  Tenth  Street  house  staining  bits  of  soft  paper  with  the 
half-dried  blood  on  the  steps.  Fragments  of  the  stained  linen 
from  the  bed  on  which  the  President  died  were  passed  from 
hand  to  hand;  locks  of  the  hair  cut  away  by  the  surgeons 
were  begged;  his  latest  photograph,  the  papers  of  the  day, 
programmes  of  the  funeral,  a  hundred  trivial  relics  were 
gathered  together,  and  are  treasured  to-day  by  the  original 
owners  or  their  children.  They 

"dip  their  napkins  in  his  sacred  blood ; 
Yea,  beg  a  hair  of  him  for  memory, 
And,  dying,  mention  it  within  their  wills, 
Bequeathing  it,  as  a  rich  legacy, 
Unto  their  issue." 

On  Tuesday  morning,  when  the  White  House  was  opened, 
it  was  practically  the  whole  population,  augmented  by  hun 
dreds  from  the  North,  who  waited  at  the  gates.  All  day  long 
they  surged  steadily  through  the  East  Room,  and  at  night, 
when  the  gates  were  closed,  Lafayette  Park  and  the  adjoin 
ing  streets  were  still  packed  with  people  waiting  for  admis 
sion.  In  this  great  company  of  mourners  two  classes  were 


252  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

conspicuous,  the  soldiers  and  the  negroes.  One  had  come 
from  camp  and  hospital,  the  other  from  country  and  hovel, 
and  both  wept  unrestrainedly  as  they  looked  on  the  dead  face 
of  the  man  who  had  been  to  one  a  father,  to  the  other  a  liber 
ator. 

Wednesday  had  been  chosen  for  the  funeral,  and  every  de 
vice  was  employed  by  the  Government  to  make  the  ceremony 
fitting  in  pomp  and  solemnity.  The  greatest  of  the  nation — 
members  of  the  cabinet,  senators,  congressmen,  diplomats; 
representatives  of  the  churches,  of  the  courts,  of  commerce, 
of  all  that  was  distinguished  and  powerful  in  the  North,  were 
present  in  the  East  Room.  Mr.  Lincoln's  friend,  Bishop 
Simpson,  and  his  pastor,  Dr.  Gurley,  conducted  the  services. 
More  than  one  spectator  noted  that  in  the  great  assembly 
there  was  but  one  person  bearing  the  name  of  Lincoln  and  re 
lated  to  the  President — his  son  Robert.  Mrs.  Lincoln  was 
not  able  to  endure  the  emotion  of  the  scene,  and  little  Tad 
could  not  be  induced  to  be  present. 

At  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  booming  of  cannon 
and  the  tolling  of  bells  announced  that  the  services  were 
ended.  A  few  moments  later,  the  coffin  was  borne  from  the 
White  House  and  placed  in  a  magnificent  funeral  car,  and 
under  the  conduct  of  a  splendid  military  and  civilian  escort, 
conveyed  slowly  to  the  Capitol,  attended  by  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  men  and  women.  At  the  east  front  of  the  Capi 
tol  the  procession  halted,  and  the  body  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  borne  across  the  portico,  from  which  six  weeks  before  in 
assuming  for  the  second  time  the  presidency,  he  had  ex 
plained  to  the  country  his  views  upon  reconstruction :  "  With 
malice  toward  none ;  with  charity  for  all ;  with  firmness  in  the 
right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive  on  to 
finish  the  work  we  are  in,  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds ;  to 
care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his 
widow  and  his  orphan — to  do  all  which  may  achieve  and 


LINCOLN'S  FUNERAL  253 

cherish  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  ourselves,  and  with 
all  nations." 

The  rotunda  of  the  Capitol,  into  which  the  coffin  was  now 
carried,  was  draped  in  black,  and  under  the  dome  was  a  great 
catafalque.  On  this  the  coffin  was  placed,  and  after  a  simple 
service  there  left  alone,  save  for  the  soldiers  who  paced  back 
and  forth  at  the  head  and  foot. 

But  it  was  not  in  Washington  alone  that  funeral  services 
were  held  that  day.  All  over  the  North,  in  Canada,  in  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  even  in  Richmond,  business  was  sus 
pended,  and  at  noon  people  gathered  to  listen  to  eulogies  of 
the  dead.  Twenty-five  million  people  literally  participated  in 
the  funeral  rites  of  that  Wednesday. 

On  Thursday  the  Capitol  was  opened,  and  here  again,  in 
spite  of  a  steady  rain,  were  repeated  the  scenes  of  Tuesday  at 
the  White  House,  thousands  of  persons  slowly  mounting  the 
long  flight  of  steps  leading  to  the  east  entrance  and  passing 
through  the  rotunda. 

At  six  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  April  21,  there  gathered 
in  the  rotunda  the  members  of  the  cabinet,  Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral  Grant  and  his  staff,  many  senators,  army  and  navy  offi 
cers,  and  other  dignitaries.  After  a  prayer  by  Dr.  Gurley,  the 
party  followed  the  coffin  to  the  railway  station,  where  the 
funeral  train  which  was  to  convey  the  remains  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  from  Washington  to  Springfield  now  stood.  A  great 
company  of  people  had  gathered  for  the  last  scene  of  the 
tragedy,  and  they  waited  in  absolute  silence  and  with  uncov 
ered  heads  while  the  coffin  was  placed  in  the  car.  At  its  foot 
was  placed  a  smaller  coffin,  that  of  Willie  Lincoln,  the  Presi 
dent's  beloved  son,  who  had  died  in  February,  1862.  At  Mrs. 
Lincoln's  request,  father  and  son  were  to  make  together  this 
last  earthly  journey. 

Following  the  remains  of  the  President  came  the  party 
which  was  to  serve  as  an  escort  to  Springfield.  It  included 


254  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

several  of  Lincoln's  old-time  friends,  among  them  Judge  Da 
vid  Davis  and  Ward  Lamon ;  a  Guard  of  Honor,  composed 
of  prominent  army  officers;  a  large  congressional  committee, 
several  governors  of  States,  a  special  delegation  from  Illi 
nois,  and  a  bodyguard.  From  time  to  time  on  the  journey 
this  party  was  joined  for  brief  periods  by  other  eminent 
men,  though  it  remained  practically  the  same  throughout. 
Three  of  its  members — Judge  Davis,  General  Hunter,  and 
Marshal  Lamon — had  been  with  Mr.  Lincoln  when  he  came 
on  to  Washington  for  his  first  inauguration. 

Precisely  at  eight  o'clock,  the  train  of  nine  cars  pulled  out 
from  the  station.  It  moved  slowly,  almost  noiselessly,  not 
a  bell  ringing  nor  a  whistle  sounding,  through  a  mourning 
throng  that  lined  the  way  to  the  borders  of  the  town. 

The  line  of  the  journey  begun  on  this  Friday  morning 
was  practically  the  same  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  followed  four 
years  before  when  he  came  to  Washington  for  his  first  in 
auguration.  It  led  through  Baltimore,  Harrisburg,  Phila 
delphia,  New  York,  Albany,  Buffalo,  Cleveland,  Columbus, 
Indianapolis,  and  Chicago,  to  Springfield.  The  entire  pro 
gramme  of  the  journey,  including  the  hours  when  the  train 
would  pass  certain  towns  where  it  could  not  stop,  had  been 
published  long  enough  beforehand  to  enable  the  people  along 
the  way  to  arrange,  if  they  wished,  to  pay  a  tribute  to  the 
dead  President.  The  result  was  a  demonstration  which  in 
sincerity  and  unanimity  has  never  been  equalled  in  the  world's 
history.  The  journey  began  at  six  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  April  21,  and  lasted  until  nine  o'clock  of  the  morning  of 
May  3 :  and  it  might  almost  be  said  that  during  the  whole 
time  there  was  not  an  hour  of  the  night  or  day,  whether  the 
coffin  lay  in  state  in  some  heavily  draped  public  building  or 
was  being  whirled  across  the  country,  when  mourning 
crowds  were  not  regarding  it  with  wet  eyes  and  bowed  heads. 
Night  and  darkness  in  no  way  lessened  the  number  of  the 


LINCOLN'S  FUNERAL  255 

mourners.  Thus  it  was  not  until  eight  o'clock  on  Saturday 
evening  (April  22)  that  the  coffin  was  placed  in  Independ 
ence  Hall,  at  Philadelphia.  The  building  was  at  once  opened 
to  the  public,  and  through  the  whole  night  thousands  filed  in 
to  look  on  the  dead  man's  face.  It  was  at  one  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  on  Monday,  that  the  coffin  was  carried  from  Inde 
pendence  Hall  to  the  train,  but  thousands  of  men,  women, 
and  children  stood  in  the  streets  while  the  procession  passed, 
as  if  it  were  day.  In  New  York,  on  the  following  Tuesday, 
City  Hall,  where  the  coffin  had  been  placed  in  the  afternoon, 
remained  open  the  whole  night.  The  crowd  was  even  greater 
than  during  the  day,  rilling  the  side  streets  around  the  square 
in  every  direction.  It  was  more  impressive,  too,  for  the  men 
and  women  who  were  willing  to  watch  out  the  night  in  the 
flare  of  torches  and  gaslights  were  laborers  who  could  not 
secure  release  in  daytime.  Many  of  them  had  come  great 
distances,  and  hundreds  were  obliged,  after  leaving  the  hall, 
to  find  a  bed  in  a  doorway,  so  overfilled  was  the  town.  The 
crowd  was  at  its  greatest  at  midnight,  when,  as  the  bells  were 
tolling  the  hour,  a  German  chorus  of  some  seventy  voices 
commenced  suddenly  to  sing  the  Integer  vitae.  The  thrill 
ing  sweetness  of  the  music  coming  unexpectedly  upon  the 
mourners  produced  an  effect  never  to  be  forgotten. 

Nor  did  rain  make  any  more  difference  with  the  crowd 
than  the  darkness.  Several  times  during  the  journey  there 
arose  heavy  storms;  but  the  people,  in  utter  indifference, 
stood  in  the  streets,  often  uncovered,  to  see  the  catafalque 
and  its  guard  go  by  or  waiting  their  turn  to  be  admitted  to 
view  the  coffin. 

The  great  demonstrations  were,  of  course,  in  the  cities 
where  the  remains  lay  in  state  for  a  few  hours.  These 
demonstrations  were  perforce  much  alike.  The  funeral  train 
was  met  at  the  station  by  the  distinguished  men  of  the  city 
and  representatives  of  organizations.  The  coffin  was  trans- 


256  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

ferred  to  a  stately  hearse,  draped  in  velvet  and  crape,  sur 
mounted  by  heavy  plumes,  ornamented  in  silver,  and  drawn 
by  six,  eight,  ten,  or  more  horses.  Then,  to  the  tolling  of 
the  bells  and  the  regular  firing  of  minute  guns,  followed  by 
a  vast  concourse  of  people,  it  was  carried  to  the  place  ap 
pointed  for  the  lying  in  state.  Here  a  crowd  which  seemed 
unending  filed  by  until  the  time  came  to  close  the  coffin,  when 
the  procession  reformed  to  attend  the  hearse  to  the  funeral 
train* 

The  first  of  these  demonstrations  was  in  Baltimore,  the 
city  which  a  little  over  four  years  before  it  had  been  thought 
unsafe  for  the  President  to  pass  through  openly,  the  city 
in  which  the  first  troops  called  out  for  the  defense  of  the 
Union  had  been  mobbed.  Now  no  offering  was  sufficient 
to  express  the  feeling  of  sorrow.  All  buildings  draped  in 
black,  all  business  suspended,  the  people  poured  out  in  a  driv 
ing  rain  to  follow  the  catafalque  to  the  Exchange,  where  for 
two  hours,  on  April  21,  the  public  was  admitted. 

*  As  was  to  be  expected,  the  most  elaborate  of  the  series  of 
funeral  ceremonies  was  in  New  York.  There,  when  the 
funeral  train  arrived  on  Tuesday,  April  25,  the  whole  city 
was  swathed  in  crape,  and  vast  crowds  filled  the  streets.  The 
climax  of  the  obsequies  was  the  procession  which,  on 
Wednesday,  followed  the  hearse  up  Broadway  and  Fifth 
Avenue  to  Thirty-fourth  Street  and  thence  to  the  Hudson 
River  station.  For  a  week  this  procession  had  been  prepar 
ing,  until  finally  it  included  representatives  of  almost  every 
organization  of  every  nature  in  the  city  and  vicinity.  The 
military  was  represented  by  detachments  from  scores  of  dif 
ferent  regiments,  and  by  many  distinguished  officers  of  the 
army  and  navy,  among  them  General  Scott  and  Admiral 
Farragut.  Companies  of  the  Seventh  Regiment  were  on 
each  side  of  the  funeral  car.  The  city  sent  its  officials — edu 
cational,  judicial,  protective.  The  foreign  consuls  marched 


LINCOLN'S  FUNERAL  257 

in  full  uniform.  There  were  scores  of  societies  and  clubs, 
including  all  the  organizations  of  Irish,  German,  and  He 
brews.  The  whole  life  of  the  city  was,  in  fact,  represented 
in  the  solid  column  of  men  which  marched  that  day  through 
the  streets  of  New  York  in  such  numbers  that  it  took  four 
hours  to  pass  a  single  point.  Deepest  in  significance  of  all 
the  long  rank  was  the  rear  body  in  the  last  division:  200 
colored  men  bearing  a  banner  inscribed  with  the  words, 
"  Abraham  Lincoln — Our  Emancipator."  A  platoon  of  po 
lice  preceded,  another  followed  the  delegation,  for  the 
presence  of  these  freedmen  would,  it  was  believed  by  many, 
cause  disorder,  and  permission  for  them  to  march  had  only 
been  obtained  by  an  appeal  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  Mr. 
Stanton.  Several  white  men  walked  with  them,  and  at  many 
points  sympathizers  took  pains  to  applaud.  With  this  single 
exception,  the  procession  passed  through  a  silent  multitude, 
the  only  sound  the  steady  tramp  of  feet  and  the  music  of  the 
funeral  dirges. 

At  four  o'clock  the  funeral  car  reached  the  station,  and 
the  journey  was  continued  toward  Albany.  But  the  obse 
quies  in  New  York  did  not  end  then.  A  meeting  was  held 
that  night  in  Union  Square,  at  which  George  Bancroft  deliv 
ered  an  oration  that  will  remain  as  one  of  the  great  expres 
sions  of  the  day  upon  Lincoln  and  the  ideas  for  which  he 
worked.  It  was  for  this  gathering  that  Bryant  wrote  his 
"  Ode  for  the  Burial  of  Abraham  Lincoln,"  beginning: 

"Oh,  slow  to  smite  and  swift  to  spare, 

Gentle  and  merciful  and  just ; 
Who  in  the  fear  of  God  did'st  bear 
The  sword  of  power,  a  Nation's  trust." 

Imposing,  solemn,  and  sincere  as  was  this  series  of  muni 
cipal  demonstrations  over  the  bier  of  Lincoln,  there  was  an 
other  feature  of  the  funeral  march  which  showed  more  viv 
idly  the  affectionate  reverence-  in  which  the  whole  people 
17) 


258  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

held  the  President.  This  was  the  outpouring  at  villages, 
country  cross-roads,  and  farms  to  salute,  as  it  passed,  the 
train  bearing  his  remains.  From  Washington  to  Springfield 
the  train  entered  scarcely  a  town  that  the  bells  were  not  toll 
ing,  the  minute  guns  firing,  the  stations  draped,  and  all  the 
spaces  beside  the  track  crowded  with  people  with  uncovered 
heads.  At  many  points  arches  were  erected  over  the  track ; 
at  others  the  bridges  were  wreathed  from  end  to  end  in  crape 
and  evergreens  and  flags.  And  this  was  not  in  the  towns 
alone;  every  farm-house  by  which  the  train  passed  became 
for  the  time  a  funeral  house ;  the  plow  was  left  in  the  furrow, 
crape  was  on  the  door,  the  neighbors  were  gathered,  and 
those  who  watched  from  the  train  as  it  flew  by  could  see 
groups  of  weeping  women,  of  men  with  uncovered  heads, 
sometimes  a  minister  among  them,  his  arms  raised  in  prayer. 
Night  did  not  hinder  them.  Great  bonfires  were  built  in 
lonely  country-sides,  around  which  the  farmers  waited  pa 
tiently  to  salute  their  dead.  At  the  towns  the  length  of  the 
train  was  lit  by  blazing  torches.  Storm  as  well  as  darkness 
was  unheeded.  Much  of  the  journey  was  made  through  the 
rain,  in  fact,  but  the  people  seemed  to  have  forgotten  all 
things  but  that  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  man  they  loved  and 
trusted,  was  passing  by  for  the  last  time. 

At  eleven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Monday,  May  i,  the 
funeral  train  reached  Chicago,  and  here  the  mourning  began 
to  take  on  a  character  distinctly  different  from  what  had 
marked  it  through  the  East.  The  people  who  now  met  the 
coffin,  who  followed  it  to  the  court-house,  who  passed  in  end 
less  streams  by  it  to  look  on  Lincoln's  face,  dated  their  trust 
in  him  many  years  earlier  than  1861.  Man  after  man  of 
them  had  come  to  pay  their  last  tribute,  not  to  the  late  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  but  to  the  genial  lawyer,  the 
resourceful,  witty  political  debater  who  had  educated  Illinois 
to  believe  that  a  country  could  not  endure  half  slave  and  half 


LINCOLN'S  FUNERAL  259 

free,  and  who,  after  defeat,  had  kept  her  faithful  to  the  "  dur 
able  struggle "  by  his  counsel.  The  tears  these  men 
shed  were  the  tears  of  long-time  friends  and  personal 
followers. 

As  the  train  advanced  from  Chicago  toward  Springfield 
the  personal  and  intimate  character  of  the  mourning  grew. 
The  journey  was  made  at  night,  but  the  whole  population  of 
the  country  lined  the  route.  Nearly  every  one  of  the  towns 
passed — indeed,  one  might  almost  say  every  one  of  the  farms 
passed —  had  been  visited  personally  by  Lincoln  on  legal  or 
political  errands,  and  a  vast  number  of  those  who  thus  in 
the  dead  of  night  watched  the  flying  train  he  had  at  some 
time  in  his  life  taken  by  the  hand. 

It  was  nine  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  May  3  that  the 
funeral  train  entered  the  town  where,  four  years  and  two 
months  before,  Abraham  Lincoln  had  bidden  his  friends 
farewell,  as  he  left  them  to  go  to  Washington.  Nearly  all 
of  those  who  on  that  dreary  February  morning  had  listened 
to  his  solemn  farewell  words  were  present  in  the  May  sun 
shine  to  receive  him.  Their  hearts  had  been  heavy  as  he  de 
parted  ;  they  were  broken  now,  for  he  was  more  than  a  great 
leader,  an  honored  martyr,  to  the  men  of  Springfield.  He 
was  their  neighbor  and  friend  and  helper,  and  as  they  bore 
his  coffin  to  the  State  House,  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  their 
minds  were  busy,  not  with  the  greatness  and  honor  that  had 
come  to  him  and  to  them  through  him,  but  with  the  scenes  of 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  in  which  he  had  always 
been  a  conspicuous  figure.  Every  corner  of  the  street  sug 
gested  that  past.  Here  was  the  office  in  which  he  had  first 
studied  law ;  here,  draped  in  mourning,  the  one  before  which 
his  name  still  hung.  Here  was  the  house  where  he  had  lived, 
the  church  he  had  attended,  the  store  in  which  he  had  been 
accustomed  to  tell  stories  and  to  discuss  politics.  His  name 
was  written  everywhere,  even  on  the  walls  of  the  Hall  of 


26o  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

Representatives  in  the  State  House,  where  they  placed  his 
coffin,  for  here  he  had  spoken  again  and  again. 

During  the  time  that  the  body  lay  in  state — from  the  noon 
of  May  3  until  the  noon  of  May  4 — the  place  Lincoln 
held  in  Springfield  and  the  surrounding  country  was  shown 
as  never  before.  The  men  and  women  who  came  to  look  on 
his  face  were  many  of  them  the  plain  farmers  of  Sangamon 
and  adjacent  counties,  and  they  wept  as  over  the  coffin  of  a 
father.  Their  grief  at  finding  him  so  changed  was  incon 
solable.  In  the  days  after  leaving  Washington  the  face 
changed  greatly,  and  by  the  time  Springfield  was  reached  it 
was  black  and  shrunken  almost  beyond  recognition.  To 
many  the  last  look  at  their  friend  was  so  painful  that  the  re 
membrance  has  never  left  them.  The  writer  has  seen  men 
weep  as  they  recalled  the  scene,  and  heard  them  say  repeat 
edly,  "  If  I  had  not  seen  him  dead ;  if  I  could  only  remember 
him  alive ! " 

It  was  on  May  4,  fifteen  days  after  the  funeral  in  Wash 
ington,  that  Abraham  Lincoln's  remains  finally  rested  in 
Oakland  Cemetery,  a  shaded  and  beautiful  spot,  two  miles 
from  Springfield.  Here,  at  the  foot  of  a  woody  knoll,  a  vault 
had  been  prepared;  and  thither,  attended  by  a  great  con 
course  of  military  and  civic  dignitaries,  by  governors  of 
States,  members  of  Congress,  officers  of  the  army  and  navy, 
delegations  from  orders,  from  cities,  from  churches,  by  the 
friends  of  his  youth,  his  young  manhood,  his  maturer  years, 
was  Lincoln  carried  and  laid,  by  his  side  his  little  son.  The 
solemn  rite  was  followed  by  dirge  and  prayer,  by  the  reading 
of  his  last  inaugural  address,  and  by  a  noble  funeral  oration 
by  Bishop  Simpson.  Then,  as  the  beautiful  day  drew  toward 
evening,  the  vault  was  closed,  and  the  great  multitudes 
slowly  returned  to  their  duties. 

The  funeral  pageant  was  at  an  end,  but  the  mourning  was 
not  silenced.  From  every  corner  of  the  earth  there  came  to 


LINCOLN'S  FUNERAL  261 

the  family  and  to  the  Government  tributes  to  the  greatness 
of  the  character  and  life  of  the  murdered  man.  Medals 
were  cast,  tablets  engraved,  parchments  engrossed.  At  the 
end  of  the  year,  when  the  State  Department  came  to  publish 
the  diplomatic  correspondence  of  1865,  there  was  a  volume 
of  over  700  pages,  containing  nothing  but  expressions  of 
condolence  and  sympathy  on  Lincoln's  death.  Nor  did  the 
mourning  and  the  honor  end  there.  From  the  day  of  his 
death  until  now,  the  world  has  gone  on  rearing  monuments 
to  Abraham  Lincoln. 

The  first  and  inevitable  result  of  the  emotion  which  swept 
over  the  earth  at  Lincoln's  death  was  to  enroll  him  among 
martyrs  and  heroes.  Men  forgot  that  they  had  despised  him, 
jeered  at  him,  doubted  him.  They  forgot  his  mistakes,  for 
got  his  plodding  caution,  forgot  his  homely  ways.  They  saw 
now,  with  the  vision  which  an  awful  and  sudden  disaster  so 
often  gives,  the  simple,  noble  outlines  on  which  he  had 
worked.  They  realized  how  completely  he  had  sunk  every 
partisan  and  personal  consideration,  every  non-essential,  in 
the  tasks  which  he  had  set  for  himself — to  prevent  the  exten 
sion  of  slavery,  to  save  the  Union.  They  realized  how,  while 
they  had  forgotten  everything  in  disputes  over  this  man,  this 
measure,  this  event,  he  had  seen  only  the  two  great  objects 
of  the  struggle.  They  saw  how  slowly,  but  surely,  he  had 
educated  them  to  feel  the  vital  importance  of  these  objects, 
had  resolved  their  partisan  warfare  into  a  moral  struggle. 
The  wisdom  of  his  words,  the  sincerity  of  his  acts,  the  stead 
fastness  of  his  life  were  clear  to  them  at  last.  With  this  rea 
lization  came  a  feeling  that  he  was  more  than  a  man.  He 
was  a  prophet,  they  said,  a  man  raised  up  by  God  for  a 
special  wrork,  and  they  laid  then  the  foundation  of  the  Lin 
coln  myth  which  still  enthralls  so  many  minds. 

The  real  Lincoln,  the  great  Lincoln,  is  not,  however,  this 
prophet  and  martyr.  He  is  the  simple,  steady,  resolute,  un- 


262  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

selfish  man  whose  supreme  ambition  was  to  find  out  the  trutK 
of  the  questions  which  confronted  him  in  life,  and  whose 
highest  satisfaction  was  in  following  the  truth  he  discovered. 
He  was  not  endowed  by  nature  with  the  vision  of  a  seer. 
His  power  of  getting  at  the  truth  of  things  he  had  won  by  in 
cessant  mental  effort.  From  his  boyhood  he  would  under 
stand,  though  he  must  walk  the  floor  all  night  with  his  prob 
lem.  Nor  had  nature  made  him  a  saint.  His  lofty  moral 
courage  in  the  Civil  War  was  the  logical  result  of  life-long 
fidelity  to  his  own  conscience.  From  his  boyhood  he  would 
keep  faith  with  that  which  his  mind  told  him  was  true, 
though  he  lost  friend  and  place  by  it.  When  he  entered  pub 
lic  life  these  qualities  at  first  won  him  position ;  but  they  cost 
him  a  position  more  than  once.  They  sent  him  to  Congress ; 
but,  in  1849,  they  forced  him  out  of  public  life.  They 
brought  him  face  to  face  with  Douglas  from  1854  to  1858, 
and  enabled  him  to  shape  the  moral  sentiment  of  the  North 
west;  but  later  they  defeated  him.  They  made  him  Illinois's 
candidate  for  the  presidency  in  1860;  but  they  brought  upon 
him  as  President  the  distrust  and  hatred  of  even  his  own 
party.  It  took  four  years  of  dogged  struggle,  of  constant 
repetitions  of  the  few  truths  which  he  believed  to  be  essential, 
to  teach  the  people  of  the  United  States  that  they  could  trust 
him;  it  took  a  murderer's  bullet  to  make  them  realize  the 
surpassing  greatness  of  his  simplicity,  his  common  sense, 
and  his  resolution.  It  is  this  man  who  never  rested  until  he 
had  found  what  he  believed  to  be  the  right,  and,  who,  having 
found  it,  could  never  be  turned  from  it,  who  is  the  Real  Lin 
coln. 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX 


The  following  Letters,  Telegrams  and  Speeches  of  Abraham  Lin 
coln  have  been  collected  by  the  author  in  the  course  of  the  work  of 
preparing  this  Life  of  Lincoln.  None  of  these  documents  appear 
in  Lincoln's  "  Complete  Works  "  edited  by  Nicolay  and  Hay  or  in 
any  other  collection  of  his  writings. 

NEW  SALEM,  Aug.  10,  1833. 
E.  C.  BLANKENSHIP: 

DEAR  SIR  : — In  regard  to  the  time  David  Eankin  served  the  en 
closed  discharge  shows  correctly — as  well  as  I  can  recollect — having 
no  writing  to  refer.  The  transfer  of  Rankin  from  my  company 
occurred  as  follows — Rankin  having  lost  his  horse  at  Dixon's  ferry 
and  having  acquaintance  in  one  of  the  foot  companies  who  were 
going  down  the  river  was  desirous  to  go  with  them,  and  one  Gal- 
ishen  being  an  acquaintance  of  mine  and  belonging  to  the  com 
pany  in  which  Eankin  wished  to  go  wished  to  leave  it  and  join 
mine,  this  being  the  case  it  was  agreed  that  they  should  exchange 
places  and  answer  to  each  others  names — as  it  was  expected  we  all 
would  be  discharged  in  very  few  days.  As  to  a  blanket — I  have 
no  knowledge  of  Rankin  ever  getting  any.  The  above  embraces 
all  the  facts  now  in  my  recollection  which  are  pertinent  to  the 
case. 

I  shall  take  pleasure  in  giving  any  further  information  in  my 
power  should  you  call  on  me. 

Your  friend,          A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  DeWitt  0,  Sprague,  Washington,  D.  0.) 

MR.  SPEARS: 

At  your  request  I  send  you  a  receipt  for  the  postage  on  your 
paper.  I  am  somewhat  surprised  at  your  request.  I  will,  however, 
comply  with  it.  The  law  requires  Newspaper  postage  to  be  paid  in 
advance,  and  now  that  I  have  waited  a  full  year  you  choose  to 
wound  my  feelings  by  insinuating  that  unless  you  get  a  receipt 
I  will  probably  make  you  pay  it  again — 

Respectfully,  A.  LINCOLN. 

265 


266  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

Received  of  George  Spears  in  full  for  postage  on  the  u  Sangamou 
Journal "  up  to  the  first  of  July,  1834. 

A.  LINCOLN.,  P.  M. 

(From  fac-simile  of  letter  printed  in  Menard-Salem-Lmcoln 
Souvenir  Album.  Petersburg,  1893.) 

REPORT  OF  ROAD  SURVEY,  written  by  Abraham  Lincoln. 

To  the  County  Commissioner's  Court  for  the  County  of  Sanga* 

mon : — 

We,  the  undersigned,  being  appointed  to  view  and  relocate  a  part 
of  the  road  between  Sangamon  town  and  the  town  of  Athens 
respectfully  report  that  we  have  performed  the  duty  of  said  ap 
pointment  according  to  law — and  that  we  have  made  the  said  re 
location  on  good  ground — and  believe  the  same  to  be  necessary  and 
proper. 

JAMES  STROWBRIDGE,  * 
LEVI  CANTRALL, 
Athens,  Nov.  4, 1834.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Herewith  is  the  map — The  court  may  allow  me  the  following 
charges  if  they  think  proper — 

1  day's  labour  as  surveyor $3.00 

Making  map .50 

$3.50 

A\  LINCOLN. 
(Original  in  office  of  county  clerk,  Springfield,  111.) 

John  Bennett,  Esq. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  Aug.  5, 1837. 

DEAR  SIR  : — Mr.  Edwards  tells  me  you  wish  to  know  whether  the 
act  to  which  your  town  incorporation  provision  was  attached 
passed  into  a  law.  It  did.  You  can  organize  under  the  general 
incorporation  law  as  soon  as  you  choose.  I  also  tacked  a  provision 
on  to  a  fellow's  bill  to  authorize  the  re-location  of  the  road  from 
Salem  down  to  your  town,  but  I  am  not  certain  whether  or  not  the 
bill  passed,  neither  do  I  suppose  I  can  ascertain  before  the  law  will 
be  published,  if  it  is  a  law.  Bowling  Greene,  Bennett  Abell,  and 
yourself  are  appointed  to  make  the  change. 

No  news.  No  excitement  except  a  little  about  the  election  of 
Monday  next.  I  suppose  of  course  our  friend,  Dr.  Henry,  stands 
no  chance  in  your  "  diggings." 

Your  friend  and  humble  servant, 

'A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  E.  R.  Oeltjen,  Petersburg,  Illinois.) 


APPENDIX  267 


TO  THE  PEOPLE. 

"  SANGAMO  JOURNAL/'  SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  Aug.  19,  1837. 

In  accordance  with  our  determination,  as  expressed  last  week,  we 
present  to  the  reader  the  articles  which  were  published  in  hand-bill 
form,  in  reference  to  the  case  of  the  heirs  of  Joseph  Anderson  vs. 
James  Adams.  These  articles  can  now  be  read,  uninfluenced  by 
personal  or  party  feeling,  and  with  the  sole  motive  of  learning  the 
truth.  When  that  is  done,  the  reader  can  pass  his  own  judgment 
on  the  matters  at  issue. 

We  only  regret  in  this  case,  that  the  publications  were  not  made 
some  weeks  before  the  election.,  Such  a  course  might  have  pre 
vented  the  expressions  of  regret,  which  have  often  been  heard  since, 
from  different  individuals,  on  account  of  the  disposition  they  made 
of  their  votes. 

TO  THE  PUBLIC. 

It  is  well  known  to  most  of  you,  that  there  is  existing  at  this 
time,  considerable  excitement  in  regard  to  Gen.  Adams's  titles  to 
certain  tracts  of  land,  and  the  manner  in  which  he  acquired  them. 
As  I  understand,  the  Gen.  charges  that  the  whole  has  been  gotten 
up  by  a  knot  of  lawyers  to  injure  his  election ;  and  as  I  am  one  of 
the  knot  to  which  he  refers — and  as  I  happen  to  be  in  possession 
of  facts  connected  with  the  matter,  I  will,  in  as  brief  a  manner  as 
possible,  make  a  statement  of  them,  together  with  the  means  by 
Which  I  arrived  at  the  knowledge  of  them. 

Sometime  in  May  or  June  last,  a  widow  woman,  by  the  name  of 
Anderson,  and  her  son,  who  resides  in  Fulton  county,  came  to 
Springfield,  for  the  purpose,  as  they  said,  of  selling  a  ten  acre 
lot  of  ground  lying  near  town,  which  they  claimed  as  the  property 
of  the  deceased  husband  and  father. 

When  they  reached  town  they 'found  the  land  was  claimed  by 
Gen.  Adams.  John  T.  Stuart  and  myself  were  employed  to  look 
into  the  matter,  and  if  it  was  thought  we  could  do  so  with  any 
prospect  of  success,  to  commence  a  suit  for  the  land.  I  went  imme 
diately  to  the  recorder's  office  to  examine  Adams's  title,  and  found 
that  the  land  had  been  entered  by  one  Dixon,  deeded  by  Dixon  to 
Thomas,  by  Thomas  to  one  Miller,  and  by  Miller  to  Gen.  Adams. 
• — The  oldest  of  these  three  deeds  was  about  ten  or  eleven  years  old, 
and  the  latest  more  than  five,  all  recorded  at  the  same  time,  and 
that  within  less  than  one  year.  This  I  thought  a  suspicious  cir 
cumstance,  and  I  was  thereby  induced  to  examine  the  deeds  very 
closely,  with  a  view  to  the  discovery  of  some  defect  by  which  to 
overturn  the  title,  being  almost  convinced  then  it  was  founded  in 
fraud.  I  finally  discovered  that  in  the  deed  from  Thomas  to  Mil 
ler,  although  Miller's  name  stood  in  a  sort  of  marginal  note  on 
the  record  book,  it  was  nowhere  in  the  deed  itself.  I  told  the  fact 


268  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

to  Talbott,  the  recorder,  and  proposed  to  him  that  he  should  go  to 
Gen.  Adams's  and  get  the  original  deed,  and  compare  it  with  the 
record,  and  thereby  ascertain  whether  the  defect  was  in  the  orig 
inal,  or  there  was  merely  an  error  in  the  recording.  As  Talbott 
afterwards  told  me,  he  went  to  the  General's,  but  not  finding  him 
at  home,  got  the  deed  from  his  eon,  which,  when  compared  with  the 
record,  proved  what  we  had  discovered  was  merely  an  error  of  the 
recorder.  After  Mr.  Talbott  corrected  the  record,  he  brought  the 
original  to  our  office,  as  I  then  thought  and  think  yet,  to  show  us 
that  it  was  right.  When  he  came  into  the  room  he  handed  the 
deed  to  me,  remarking  that  the  fault  was  all  his  own.  On  opening 
it,  another  paper  fell  out  of  it,  which  on  examination,  proved  to 
be  an  assignment  of  a  judgment  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  Sangamon 
County  from  Joseph  Anderson,  the  late  husband  of  the  widow 
above  named,  to  James  Adams,  the  judgment  being  in  favor  of 
said  Anderson  against  one  Joseph  Miller.  Knowing  that  this 
judgment  had  some  connection  with  the  land  affair,  I  immediately 
took  a  copy  of  it,  which  is  word  for  word,  letter  for  letter  and  cross 
for  cross  as  follows: 


Joseph  Anderson, 


vs. 


Joseph  Miller. 


Judgment  in  Sangamon  Circuit  Court 
against  Joseph  Miller  obtained  on  a  note 
originally  25  dolls  and  interest  thereon 
accrued. 

I  assign  all  my  right,  title  and  interest 
to  James  Adams  which  is  in  consideration 
of  a  debt  I  owe  said  Adams. 


May  10th,  1827.  nis 

JOSEPH      X    ANDERSON. 
mark." 

As  the  copy  shows,  it  bore  date  May  10,  1827;  although  the 
judgment  assigned  by  it  was  not  obtained  until  the  October  after 
wards,  as  may  be  seen  by  any  one  on  the  records  of  the  Circuit 
Court.  Two  other  strange  circumstances  attended  it  which  cannot 
be  represented  by  a  copy.  One  of  them  was,  that  the  date  "  1827  " 
had  first  been  made  "  1837  "  and  without  the  figure  "  3  "  being  fully 
obliterated,  the  figure  "  2  "  had  afterwards  been  made  on  top  of  it ; 
the  other  was  that,  although  the  date  was  ten  years  old,  the  writing 
on  it,  from  the  freshness  of  its  appearance,  was  thought  by  many, 
and  I  believe  by  all  who  saw  it,  not  to  be  more  than  a  week  old. 
The  paper  on  which  it  was  written  had  a  very  old  appearance ;  and 
there  were  some  old  figures  on  the  back  of  it  which  made  the 
freshness  of  the  writing*  on  the  face  of  it,  much  more  striking 
than  I  suppose  it  otherwise  might  have  been.  The  reader's  curi- 


APPENDIX  269 

osity  is  no  doubt  excited  to  know  what  connection  this  assignment 
had  with  the  land  in  question.  The  story  is  this :  Dixon  sold  and 
deeded  the  land  to  Thomas: — Thomas  sold  it  to  Anderson;  but 
before  he  gave  a  deed,  Anderson  sold  it  to  Miller,  and  took  Miller's 
note  for  the  purchase  money. — When  this  note  became  due,  Ander 
son  sued  Miller  on  it,  and  Miller  procured  an  injunction  from  the 
Court  of  Chancery  to  stay  the  collection  of  the  money  until  he 
should  get  a  deed  for  the  land.  Gen.  Adams  was  employed  as  an 
attorney  by  Anderson  in  this  chancery  suit,  and  at  the  October 
term,  1827,  the  injunction  was  dissolved,  and  a  judgment  given 
in  favor  of  Anderson  against  Miller;  and  it  was  provided  that 
Thomas  was  to  execute  a  deed  for  the  land  in  favor  of  Miller,  and 
deliver  it  to  Gen.  Adams,  to  be  held  up  by  him  till  Miller  paid  the 
judgment,  and  then  to  deliver  it  to  him.  Miller  left  the  county 
without  paying  the  judgment.  Anderson  moved  to  Fulton  county, 
where  he  has  since  died.  When  the  widow  came  to  Springfield  last 
May  or  June,  as  before  mentioned,  and  found  the  land  deeded  to 
Gen.  Adams  by  Miller,  she  was  naturally  led  to  enquire  why  the 
money  due  upon  the  judgment  had  not  been  sent  to  them,  inas 
much  as  he,  Gen.  Adams,  had  no  authority  to  deliver  Thomas's 
deed  to  Miller  until  the  money  was  paid.  Then  it  was  the  General 
told  her,  or  perhaps  her  son,  who  came  with  her,  that  Anderson, 
in  his  lifetime,  had  assigned  the  judgment  to  him,  Gen.  Adams. 
I  am  now  told  that  the  General  is  exhibiting  an  assignment  of  the 
same  judgment  bearing  date  "  1828 ;"  and  in  other  respects  differing 
from  the  one  described;  and  that  he  is  asserting  that  no  such 
assignment  as  the  one  copied  by  me  ever  existed;  or  if  there  did, 
it  was  forged  between  Talbott  and  the  lawyers,  and  slipped  into  his 
papers  for  the  purpose  of  injuring  him.  Now,  I  can  only  say  that 
I  know  precisely  such  a  one  did  exist,  and  that  Ben.  Talbott,  Win. 
Butler,  C.  E.  Matheny,  John  T.  Stuart,  Judge  Logan,  Eobert  Irwin, 
P.  C.  Canedy  and  S.  M.  Tinsley,  all  saw  and  examined  it,  and  that 
at  least  one  half  of  them  will  swear  that  IT  WAS  IN  GENERAL 
ADAMS'S  HANDWRITING!  !  And  further,  I  know  that  Tal 
bott  will  swear  that  he  got  it  out  of  the  General's  possession,  and 
returned  it  into  his  possession  again.  The  assignment  which  the 
General  is  now  exhibiting  purports  to  have  been  by  Anderson  in 
writing.  The  one  I  copied  was  signed  with  a  cross. 

I  am  told  that  Gen.  Neale  says  that  he  will  swear,  that  he  heard 
Gen.  Adams  tell  young  Anderson  that  the  assignment  made  by  hia 
father  was  signed  with  a  cross. 

The  above  are  facts,  as  stated.  I  leave  them  without  comment. 
I  have  given  the  names  of  persons  who  have  knowledge  of  these 
facts,  in  order  that  any  one  who  chooses  may  call  on  them  and 
ascertain  how  far  they  will  corroborate  my  statements.  I  have 
only  made  these  statements  because  I  am  known  by  many  to  be 
one  of  the  individuals  against  whom  the  charge  of  forging  the 
assignment  and  slipping  it  into  the  General's  papers,  has  been 
made;  artr?  Vcause  our  silence  might  be  construed  into  a  confes- 


270'  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

sion  of  its  truth.  I  shall  not  subscribe  my  name;  but  '1  hereby 
authorize  the  editor  of  the  '  Journal  *  to  give  it  up  to  any  one  that 
may  call  for  it." 

"It  having  been  stated  this  morning  that  the  subscriber  had 
refused  to  give  the  name  of  the  author  of  the  hand-bill  above  re 
ferred  to  (which  statement  is  not  true) :  to  save  any  farther  re 
marks  on  this  subject,  I  now  state  that  A.  Lincoln,  Esq.,  is  the 
author  of  the  hand-bill  in  question.  SIMEON  FRANCIS. 

"August  7, 1837." 

Messrs.  Lincoln  and  Talbott  in  reply  to  Gen.  Adams. 

"  SANGAMO  JOURNAL/'  SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  Sept.  9,  1837. 

In  the  "[Republican"  of  this  morning  a  publication  of  Gen. 
Adams's  appears,  in  which  my  name  is  used  quite  unreservedly. 
For  this  I  thank  the  General.  I  thank  him  because  it  gives  me  an 
opportunity,  without  appearing  obtrusive,  of  explaining  a  part  of 
a  former  publication  of  mine,  which  appears  to  me  to  have  been 
misunderstood  by  many. 

In  the  former  publication  alluded  to,  I  stated,  in  substance,  that 
Mr.  Talbott  got  a  deed  from  a  son  of  Gen.  Adams's  for  the  purpose 
of  correcting  a  mistake  that  had  occurred  on  the  record  of  the  said 
deed  in  the  recorder's  office — that  he  corrected  the  record,  and 
brought  the  deed  and  handed  it  to  me — and  that,  on  opening  the 
deed,  another  paper,  being  the  assignment  of  a  judgment,  fell  out 
of  it.  This  statement  Gen.  Adams  and  the  editor  of  the  "  Eepubli- 
can,"  have  seized  upon  as  a  most  palpable  evidence  of  fabrication 
and  falsehood.  They  set  themselves  gravely  about  proving  that 
the  assignment  could  not  have  been  in  the  deed  when  Talbott 
got  it  from  young  Adams,  as  he,  Talbott,  would  have  seen  it  when 
he  opened  the  deed  to  correct  the  record.  Now,  the  truth  is,  Tal 
bott  did  see  the  assignment  when  he  opened  the  deed,  or  at  least 
he  told  me  he  did  on  the  same  day;  and  I  only  omitted  to  say  so, 
in  my  former  publication,  because  it  was  a  matter  of  such  palpable 
and  necessary  inference.  I  had  stated  that  Talbott  had  corrected 
the  record  by  the  deed;  and  of  course  he  must  have  opened  it; 
and,  just  as  the  General  and  his  friends  argue,  must  have  seen  the 
assignment.  I  omitted  to  state  the  fact  of  Talbott's  seeing  the 
assignment,  because  its  existence  was  so  necessarily  connected 
with  other  facts  which  I  did  state,  that  I  thought  the  greatest 
dunce  could  not  but  understand  it.  Did  I  say  Talbott  had  not 
seen  it  ?  Did  I  say  anything  that  was  inconsistent  with  his  having 
seen  it  before?  Most  certainly  I  did  neither;  and  if  I  did  not, 
what  becomes  of  the  argument?  These  logical  gentlemen  cannot 
sustain  their  argument  only  by  assuming  that  I  did  say  negatively 
everything  that  I  did  not  say  affirmatively;  and  upon  the  same 
assumption,  we  may  expect  to  find  the  General,  if  a  little  harder 


APPENDIX  271 

pressed  for  argument,  saying  that  I  said  Talbott  came  to  our  office 
with  his  head  downward,  not  that  I  actually  said  so,  but  because  I 
omitted  to  say  he  came  feet  downward. 

In  his  publication  to-day,  the  General  produces  the  affidavit  of 
Keuben  Radf  ord,  in  which  it  is  said  that  Talbott  told  Radf  ord  that 
he  did  not  find  the  assignment  in  the  deed,  in  the  recording  of 
which  the  error  was  omitted,  but  that  he  found  it  wrapped  in 
another  paper  in  the  recorder's  office,  upon  which  statement  the 
Genl.  comments,  as  follows,  to-wit: — "If  it  be  true  as  stated  by 
Talbott  to  Radf  ord,  that  he  found  the  assignment  wrapped  up  in 
another  paper  at  his  office,  that  contradicts  the  statement  of  Lin 
coln  that  it  fell  out  of  the  deed." 

Is  common  sense  to  be  abused  with  such  sophistry?  Did  I  say 
what  Tabott  found  it  in?  If  Talbott  did  find  it  in  another  paper 
at  his  office,  is  that  any  reason  why  he  could  not  have  folded  it  in 
a  deed  and  brought  it  to  my  office,  can  any  one  be  so  far  duped,  as 
to  be  made  believe  that  what  may  have  happened  at  Talbott's  office 
at  one  time,  is  inconsistent  with  wlmt  happened  at  my  office  at 
another  time? 

Now  Talbott's  statement  of  the  case  cs  he  makes  it  to  me  is  this, 
that  he  got  a  bunch  of  deeds  from  young  Adams,  and  that  he  knows 
he  found  the  assignment  in  the  bunch,  but  he  is  not  certain  which 
particular  deed  it  was  in,  nor  is  he  certain  whether  it  was  folded 
in  the  same  deed  out  of  which  it  was  took,  or  another  one,  when  it 
was  brought  to  my  office.  Is  this  a  mysterious  story?  Is  there 
anything  suspicious  about  it? 

"  But  it  is  useless  to  dwell  longer  on  this  point.  Any  man  who 
is  not  wilfully  blind  can  see  at  a  blush,  that  there  is  no  discrepancy 
and  Lincoln  has  shown  that  they  are  not  only  inconsistent  with 
truth,  but  each  other  " — I  can  only  say,  that  I  have  shown  that  he 
has  done  no  such  thing;  and  if  the  reader  is  disposed  to  require 
any  other  evidence  than  the  General's  assertion,  he  will  be  of  my 
opinion. 

Excepting  the  General's  most  flimsy  attempt  at  mystification,  in 
regard  to  a  discrepance  between  Talbott  and  myself,  he  has  not 
denied  a  single  statement  that  I  made  in  my  hand-bill.  Every 
material  statement  that  I  made  has  been  sworn  to  by  men  who,  in 
former  times,  were  thought  as  respectable  as  General  Adams.  I 
stated  that  an  assignment  of  a  judgment,  a  copy  of  which  I  gave, 
had  existed— Benj.  Talbott,  C.  R.  Matheny,  Win.  Butler,  and  Judge 
Logan,  swore  to  its  existence,  I  stated  that  it  was  said  to  be  in  Gen. 
Adams's  handwriting — the  same  men  swore  it  was  in  his  handwrit 
ing.  I  stated  that  Talbott  would  swear  that  he  got  it  out  of  Gen. 
Adams's  possession — Talbott  came  forward  and  did  swear  it. 

Bidding  adieu  to  the  former  publication,  I  now  propose  to  exam 
ine  the  General's  last  gigantic  production.  I  now  propose  to  point 
out  some  discrepancies  in  the  General's  address;  and  such  too, 
as  he  shall  not  be  able  to  escape  from.  Speaking  of  the  famous  as 
signment,  the  General  says  "  This  last  charge,  which  was  their  last 


272  LIFE  OP  UNCOLN 

resort,  their  dying  effort  to  render  my  character  infamous  among 
my  fellow  citizens,  was  manufactured  at  a  certain  lawyer's  office  in 
the  town,  printed  at  the  office  of  the  '  Sangamon  Journal,'  and 
found  its  way  into  the  world  some  time  between  two  days  jusi 
before  the  last  election/'  Now  turn  to  Mr.  Keys's  affidavit  in 
which  you  will  find  the  following,  (viz.)  "  I  certify  that  some  timo 
in  May  or  the  early  part  of  June,  1837,  I  saw  at  Williams's  corner, 
a  paper  purporting  to  be  an  assignment  from  Joseph  Anderson  to 
James  Adams,  which  assignment,  was  signed  by  a  mark  to  Ander 
son's  name,"  etc.  NOWT  mark,  if  Keys  saw  the  assignment  on  the 
last  of  May  or  first  of  June,  Gen.  Adams  tells  a  falsehood  when  he 
says  it  was  manufactured  just  before  the  election,  which  was  on  the 
7th  of  August;  and  if  it  was  manufactured  just  before  the  elec 
tion,  Keys  tells  a  falsehood  when  he  says  he  saw  it  on  the  last  of 
May  or  first  of  June.  Either  Keys  or  the  General  is  irretrievably 
in  for  it;  and  in  the  General's  very  condescending  language,  I 
Bay  "  let  them  settle  it  between  them." 

Now  again,  let  the  reader,  bearing  in  mind  that  General  Adams 
has  unequivocally  said,  in  one  part  of  his  address,  that  the  charge 
in  relation  to  the  assignment  was  manufactured  just  before  the 
election;  turn  to  the  affidavit  of  Peter  S.  Weber,  where  the  fol 
lowing  will  be  found,  (viz.)  "  I,  Peter  S.  Weber,  do  certify  that 
from  the  best  of  my  recollection,  on  the  day  or  day  after  Gen. 
Adams  started  for  the  Illinois  Rapids,  in  May  last,  that  I  was  at 
the  house  of  Gen.  Adams,  sitting  in  the  kitchen,  situated  on  the 
back  part  of  the  house,  it  being  in  the  afternoon,  and  that  Benja 
min  Talbott  came  around  the  house,  back  into  the  kitchen,  arid 
appeared  wild  and  confused,  and  that  he  laid  a  package  of  papers 
on  the  kitchen  table  and  requested  that  they  should  be  handed  to 
Lucian.  He  made  no  apology  for  coming  to  the  kitchen,  nor  for 
not  handing  them  to  Lucian  himself.,  but  showed  the  token  of 
being  frightened  and  confused  both  in  demeanor  and  speech  and 
for  what  cause  I  could  not  apprehend." 

Commenting  on  Weber's  affidavit,  Gen.  Adams  asks,  "  Why  this 
fright  and  confusion  ? "  I  reply  that  this  is  a  question  for  the 
General  himself.  Weber  says  that  it  was  in  May,  and  if  so,  it  is 
most  clear,  that  Talbott  was  not  frightened  on  account  of  the 
assignment,  unless  the  General  lies  when  he  says  the  assignment 
charge  was  manufactured  just  before  the  election.  Is  it  not  a 
strong  evidence,  that  the  General  is  not  traveling  with  the  pole- 
star  of  truth  in  his  front,  to  see  him  in  one  part  of  his  address 
roundly  asserting  that  the  assignment  was  manufactured  just 
before  the  election,  and  then,  forgetting  that  position,  procuring 
Weber's  most  foolish  affidavit,  to  prove  that  Talbott  had  been  en 
gaged  in  manufacturing  it  two  months  before? 

In  another  part  of  his  address,  Gen.  Adams  says.  "  That  I  hold 
an  assignment  of  said  judgment,  dated  the  20th  of  May,  1828,  and 
signed  by  said  Anderson,  I  have  never  pretended  to  deny  or  con 
ceal,  but  stated  that  fact  in  one  of  my  circulars  previous  to  tbte 


APPENDIX  273 

election,  and  also  in  answer  to  a  'bill  in  chancery"  Now  I  pro 
nounce  this  statement  unqualifiedly  false,  and  shall  not  rely  on  the 
word  or  oath  of  any  man  to  sustain  me  in  what  I  say;  but  will  let 
the  whole  be  decided  by  reference  to  the  circular  and  answer  in 
chancery  of  which  the  General  speaks.  In  his  circular  he  did 
speak  of  an  assignment;  but  he  did  not  say  it  bore  date  20th  of 
May,  1828;  nor  did  he  say  it  bore  any  date.  In  his  answer  in 
chancery,  he  did  say  that  he  had  an  assignment;  but  he  did  not 
say  that  it  bore  date  the  20th  May,  1828;  but  so  far  from  it,  he 
said  on  oath  (for  he  swore  to  the  answer)  that  as  well  as  recollected, 
he  obtained  it  in  1827.  If  any  one  doubts,  let  him  examine  the 
circular  and  answer  for  himself  They  are  both  accessible. 

It  will  readily  be  observed  that  the  principal  part  of  Adams's 
defense,  rests  upon  the  argument,  that  if  he  had  been  base  enough 
to  forge  an  assignment,  he  would  not  have  been  fool  enough  to 
forge  one  that  would  not  cover  the  case.  This  argument  he  used 
in  his  circular  before  the  election.  The  "  Republican  "  has  used 
it  at  least  once,  since  then;  and  Adams  uses  it  again  in  his  publi 
cation  of  to-day.  Now  I  pledge  myself  to  show  that  he  is  just  such 
a  fool,  that  he  and  his  friends  have  contended  it  was  impossible 
for  him  to  be.  Recollect — he  says  he  has  a  genuine  assignment; 
and  that  he  got  Joseph  Klein's  affidavit,  stating  that  he  had  seen  it, 
and  that  he  believed  the  signature  to  have  been  executed  by  the 
same  hand,  that  signed  Anderson's  name  to  the  answer  in  Chan 
cery.  Luckily  Klein  took  a  copy  of  this  genuine  assignment, 
which  I  have  been  permitted  to  see;  and  hence  I  know  it  does  not 
cover  the  case.  In  the  first  place  it  is  headed  "  Joseph  Anderson 
vs.  Joseph  Miller,"  and  heads  off  "  Judgment  in  Sangamon  Circuit 
Court."  Now,  mark,  there  never  was  a  case  in  Sangamon  Circuit 
Court  entitled  Joseph  Anderson  vs.  Joseph  Miller.  The  case  men 
tioned  in  my  former  publication,  and  the  only  one  between  these 
parties  that  ever  existed  in  the  Circuit  Court,  was  entitled  Joseph 
Miller  vs.  Joseph  Anderson,  Miller  being  the  plaintiff.  What  then 
becomes  of  all  their  sophistry  about  Adams  not  being  fool  enough 
to  forge  an  assignment  that  would  not  cover  the  case?  It  is  cer 
tain  that  the  present  one  does  not  cover  the  case ;  and  if  he  got  it 
honestly,  it  is  still  clear  that  he  was  fool  enough  to  pay  for  an 
as8]'gnment  that  does  not  cover  the  case. 

The  General  asks  for  the  proof  of  disinterested  witnesses.  Who 
does  he  consider  disinterested?  None  can  be  more  so  than  those 
who  have  already  testified  against  him.  No  one  of  them  had  the 
least  interest  on  earth,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  to  injure  him.  True, 
he  says  they  had  conspired  against  him;  but  if  the  testimony 
of  an  angel  from  Heaven  were  introduced  against  him,  he  would 
make  the  same  charge  of  conspiracy.  And  now  I  put  the  ques 
tion  to  every  reflecting  man,  do  you  believe  that  Benjamin  Tal- 
bott,  Chas.  R.  Matheny,  William  Butler  and  Stephen  T.  Logan 
all  sustaining  high  and  spotless  characters,  and  justly  proud  of 
them,  would  deliberately  perjure  themselves,  without  any  motivo 


274  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

whatever,  except  to  injure  a  man's  election;  and  that,  too,  a  man 
who  had  been  a  candidate,  time  out  of  mind,  and  yet  who  had 
never  been  elected  to  any  office  ? 

Adams's  assurance,  in  demanding  disinterested  testimony,  is 
surpassing.  He  brings  in  the  affidavit  of  his  own  son,  and  even 
of  Peter  S.  Weber,  with  whom  I  am  not  acquainted,  but  who, 
I  suppose,  is  some  black  or  mulatto  boy,  from  his  being  kept  in 
the  kitchen,  to  prove  his  points ;  but  when  such  a  man  as  Talbott,  a 
man  who,  but  two  years  ago,  run  against  Gen.  Adams  for  the 
office  of  Recorder  and  beat  him  more  than  four  votes  to  one,  is 
introduced  against  him,  he  asks  the  community,  with  all  the  con 
sequence  of  a  Lord,  to  reject  his  testimony. 

I  might  easily  write  a  volume,  pointing  out  inconsistencies  be 
tween  the  statements  in  Adams's  last  address  with  one  another,  and 
with  other  known  facts;  but  I  am  aware  the  reader  must  already 
be  tired  with  the  length  of  this  article,  his  opening  statements, 
that  he  was  first  accused  of  being  a  tory,  and  that  he  refuted 
that;  that  then  the  Sampson's  ghost  story  was  got  up,  and  he 
refuted  that;  that  as  a  last  resort,  a  dying  effort,  the  assignment 
charge  was  got  up  is  all  as  false  as  hell,  as  all  this  community 
must  know.  Sampson's  ghost  first  made  its  appearance  in  print, 
and  that  too,  after  Keys  swears  he  saw  the  assignment,  as  any 
one  may  see  by  reference  to  the  files  of  papers;  and  Gen.  Adams 
himself,  in  reply  to  the  Sampson's  ghost  story,  was  the  first  man 
that  raised  the  cry  of  toryism  and  it  was  only  by  way  of  set  off, 
and  never  in  seriousness  that  it  was  banded  back  at  him.  His 
effort  is  to  make  the  impression  that  his  enemies  first  made  the 
charge  of  toryism  and  he  drove  them  from  that,  then  Sampson's 
ghost,  he  drove  them  from  that,  then  finally  the  assignment  charge 
was  manufactured  just  before  the  election.  Now,  the  only  general 
reply  he  ever  made  to  the  Sampson's  ghost  and  tory  charges,  he 
made  at  one  and  the  same  time,  and  not  in  succession  as  he  states; 
and  the  date  of  that  reply  will  show,  that  it  was  made  at  least  a 
month  after  the  date  on  which  Keys  swears  he  saw  the  Anderson 
assignment.  But  enough.  In  conclusion  I  will  only  say  that  I  have 
a  character  to  defend  as  well  as  Gen.  Adams,  but  I  disdain  to  whim 
about  it  as  he  does.  It  is  true  I  have  no  children  nor  Jcitcher 
hoys;  and  if  I  had,  I  should  scorn  to  lug  them  in  to  make  affida 
vits  for  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

September  6,  1837. 

TO  THE  PUBLIC. 

SANGAMO  JOURNAL,  SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  Oct.  28, 1837. 

Such  is  the  turn  which  things  have  lately  taken,  that  when  Gen, 
Adams  writes  a  book,  I  am  expected  to  write  a  commentary  on 
it.  In  the  "  Republican  "  of  this  morning  he  has  presented  the  world 
with  a  new  work  of  six  columns  in  length :  in  consequence  of  which 


APPENDIX  275 

I  must  beg  the  room  of  one  column  in  the  "  Journal."  It  is  ob 
vious  that  a  minute  reply  cannot  be  made  in  one  column  to  every 
thing  that  can  be  said  in  six;  and,  consequently,  I  hope  that  ex 
pectation  will  be  answered,  if  I  reply  to  such  parts  of  the  GeneraiV. 
publication  as  are  worth  replying  to. 

It  may  not  be  improper  to  remind  the  reader  that  in  his  publica 
tion  of  Sept.  6th  General  Adams  said  that  the  assignment  charge 
was  manufactured  just  before  the  election;  and  that  in  reply  I 
proved  that  statement  to  be  false  by  Keys,  his  own  witness.  Now, 
without  attempting  to  explain,  he  furnishes  me  with  another  wit 
ness  (Tinsley)  by  which  the  same  thing  is  proved,  to  wit,  that 
the  assignment  was  not  manufactured  just  before  the  election; 
but  that  it  was  some  weeks  before.  Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that 
Adams  made  this  statement — has  himself  furnished  two  witnesses 
to  prove  its  falsehood,  and  does  not  attempt  to  deny  or  explain  it. 
Before  going  farther,  let  a  pin  be  stuck  here,  labeled  "  one  lie 
proved  and  confessed."  On  the  6th  of  September  he  said  he  had 
before  stated  in  the  hand  bill  that  he  held  an  assignment  dated 
May  20th,  1828,  which  in  reply  I  pronounced  to  be  false,  and 
referred  to  the  hand  bill  for  the  truth  of  what  I  said.  This  week 
he  forgets  to  make  any  explanation  of  this.  Let  another  pin  be 
stuck  here,  labeled  as  before.  I  mention  these  things,  because,  if, 
when  I  convict  him  in  one  falsehood,  he  is  permitted  to  shift  his 
ground  and  pass  it  by  in  silence,  there  can  be  no  end  to  this  con 
troversy. 

The  first  thing  that  attracts  my  attention  in  the  General's  pres 
ent  production,  is  the  information  he  is  pleased  to  give  to  "  Those 
who  are  made  to  suffer  at  his  (my)  hands" 

Under  present  circumstances,  this  cannot  apply  to  me,  for  I 
am  not  a  widow  nor  an  orphan :  nor  have  I  a  wife  or  children  who 
might  by  possibility  become  such.  Such,  however,  I  have  no 
doubt,  have  been,  and  will  again  be  made  to  suffer  at  his  hands!  / 
Hands!  Yes,  they  are  the  mischievous  agents. — The  next  thing 
I  shall  notice  is  his  favorite  expression,  "  not  of  lawyers,  doctors 
and  others,"  which  he  is  so  fond  of  applying  to  all  who  dare  ex 
pose  his  rascality.  Now,  let  it  be  remembered  that  when  he  first 
came  to  this  country  he  attempted  to  impose  himself  upon  the 
community  as  a  lawyer,  and  actually  carried  the  attempt  so  far, 
as  to  induce  a  man  who  was  under  a  charge  of  murder  to  entrust 
the  defense  of  his  life  in  his  hands,  and  finally  took  his  money 
and  got  him  hanged.  Is  this  the  man  that  is  to  raise  a  breeze 
in  his  favor  by  abusing  lawyers  ?  If  he  is  not  himself  a  lawyer,  it 
is  for  the  lack  of  sense,  and  not  of  inclination.  If  he  is  not  a 
lawyer,  he  is  a  liar  for  he  proclaimed  himself  a  lawyer,  and  got 
a  man  hanged  by  depending  on  him. 

Passing  over  such  parts  of  the  article  as  have  neither  fact  nor 
argument  in  them,  I  come  to  the  question  asked  by  Adamg 
whether  any  person  ever  saw  the  assignment  in  his  possession* 
This  is  an  insult  to  common  sense.  Talbott  has  sworn  once  and 


276  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

repeated  time  and  again,  that  he  got  it  out  of  Adams's  possession 
and  returned  it  into  the  same  possession.  Still,  as  though  he  waa 
addressing  fools,  he  has  assurance  to  ask  if  any  person  ever  saw 
it  in  his  possession. —  Next  I  quote  a  sentence,  "  Now  my  son 
Lucian  swears  that  when  Talbott  called  for  the  deed,  that  he,  Tal- 
bott,  opened  it  and  pointed  out  the  error."  True.  His  son  Lucian 
did  swear  as  he  says;  and  in  doing  so,  he  swore  what  I  will  prove 
by  his  own  affidavit  to  be  a  falsehood.  Turn  to  Lucian's  affidavit, 
and  you  will  there  see  that  Talbott  called  for  the  deed  by  which 
to  correct  an  error  on  the  record.  Thus  it  appears  that  the  error 
in  question  was  on  the  record,  and  not  in  the  deed.  How  then 
could  Talbott  open  the  deed  and  point  out  the  error?  Where  a 
thing  is  not,  it  cannot  be  pointed  out.  The  error  was  not  in  the 
deed,  and  of  course  could  not  be  pointed  out  there.  This  does  not 
merely  prove  that  the  error  could  not  be  pointed  out,  as  Lucian 
swore  it  was;  but  it  proves,  too,  that  the  deed  was  not  opened  in 
his  presence  with  a  special  view  to  the  error,  for  if  it  had  been, 
he  could  not  have  failed  to  see  that  there  was  no  error  in  it.  It 
is  easy  enough  to  see  why  Lucian  swore  this.  His  object  was  to 
prove  that  the  assignment  was  not  in  the  deed,  when  Talbott  got 
it:  but  it  was  discovered  he  could  not  swear  this  safely,  without 
first  swearing  the  deed  was  opened — and  if  he  swore  it  was 
opened,  he  must  show  a  motive  for  opening  it,  and  the  conclusion 
with  him  and  his  father  was,  that  the  pointing  out  the  error, 
would  appear  the  most  plausible. 

For  the  purpose  of  showing  that  the  assignment  was  not  in  the 
bundle  when  Talbott  got  it,  is  the  story  introduced  into  Lucian's 
affidavit  that  the  deeds  were  counted.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact, 
and  one  that  should  stand  as  a  warning  to  all  liars  and  fabricators, 
that  in  this  short  affidavit  of  Lucian's,  he  only  attempted  to  depart 
from  the  truth,  so  far  as  I  have  the  means  of  knowing,  in  two 
points,  to-wit,  in  the  opening  the  deed  and  pointing  out  the  error; 
and  the  counting  of  the  deeds, — and  in  both  of  these  he  caught 
himself.  About  the  counting,  he  caught  himself  thus — after  say 
ing  the  bundle  contained  five  deeds  and  a  lease,  he  proceeds, 
"  and  I  saw  no  other  papers  than  the  said  deed  and  lease."  First 
he  has  six  papers,  and  then  he  saw  none  but  two  for  "my  son 
Lucian's  "  benefit,  let  a  pin  be  stuck  here. 

Adams  again  adduces  the  argument,  that  he  could  not  have 
forged  the  assignment,  for  the  reason  that  he  could  have  had  no 
motive  for  it.  With  those  that  know  the  facts  there  is  no  ab 
sence  of  motive.  Admitting  the  paper,  which  he  has  filed  in  the 
suit  to  be  genuine,  it  is  clear  that  it  cannot  answer  the  purpose 
for  which  he  designs  it.  Hence  his  motive  for  making  one  that 
he  supposed  would  answer,  is  obvious. — His  making  the  date  too 
old  is  also  easily  enough  accounted  for.  The  records  were  not  in 
his  hands,  and  then  there  being  some  considerable  talk  upon  this 
particular  subject,  he  knew  he  could  not  examine  the  records  to 
ascertain  the  precise  dates  witbout  subjecting  himself  to  BUS- 


APPENDIX  277 

pscion ;  and  hence  he  concluded  to  try  it  by  guess,  and  as  it  turned 
out,  missed  it  a  little.  About  Miller's  deposition,  I  have  a  word  to 
eay.  In  the  first  place,  Miller's  answer  to  the  first  question  shows 
upon  its  face,  that  he  had  been  tampered  with,  ana  the  answer 
dictated  to  him.  He  was  asked  if  he  knew  Joel  Wright  and 
James  Adams;  and  above  three-fourths  of  his  ansvver  consists 
of  what  he  knew  about  Joseph  Anderson,  a  man  about  whom 
nothing  had  been  asked,  nor  a  word  said  in  the  question — a  fact 
that  can  only  be  accounted  for  upon  the  supposition,  that  Adams 
had  secretly  told  him  what  he  wished  him  to  swear  to. 

Another  of  Miller's  answers  I  will  prove  both  by  common  sense 
and  the  Court  of  Record  is  untrue.  To  one  question  he  answers, 
"  Anderson  brought  a  suit  against  me  before  James  Adams,  then 
an  acting  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  Sangamon  County,  before  whom 
he  obtained  a  judgment. 

Q. — Did  you  remove  the  same  by  injunction  to  the  Sangamon 
Circuit  Court?  Ans. — I  did  remove  it.  Now  mark- — it  is  said 
he  removed  it  by  injunction.  The  word  "  injunction  "  in  common 
language  imports  a  command  that  some  person  or  thing  shall  not 
move  or  be  removed;  in  law  it  has  the  same  meaning.  An  in 
junction  issuing  out  of  Chancery  to  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  is  a 
command  to  him  to  stop  all  proceedings  in  a  named  case  until 
further  orders.  It  is  not  an  order  to  remove  but  to  stop  or  stay 
something  that  is  already  moving.  Besides  this,  the  records  of  the 
Sangamon  Circuit  Court  show,  that  the  judgment  of  which  Miller 
swore  was  never  removed  into  said  Court  by  injunction  or  other 
wise. 

I  have  now  to  take  notice  of  a  part  of  Adams's  address  which  in 
the  order  of  time  should  have  been  noticed  before.  It  is  in  these 
words,  "  I  have  now  shown,  in  the  opinion  of  two  competent 
judges,  that  the  handwriting  of  the  forged  assignment  differed  from 
mine,  and  ~by  one  of  them  that  it  could  not  be  mistaken  for  mine" 
That  is  false.  Tinsley  no  doubt  is  the  judge  referred  to;  and  by 
reference  to  his  certificate  it  will  be  seen  that  he  did  not  say  the 
handwriting  of  the  assignment  could  not  be  mistaken  for  Adams's — 
nor  did  he  use  any  other  expression  substantially,  or  anything  near 
substantially  the  same.  But  if  Tinsley  had  said  the  handwriting 
could  not  be  mistaken  for  Adams's,  it  would  have  been  equally 
unfortunate  for  Adams:  for  it  then  would  have  contradicted 
Keys,  who  says,  "I  looked  at  the  writing  and  judged  it  the  said 
Adams's  or  a  good  imitation." 

Adams  speaks  with  much  apparent  confidence  of  his  success  on 
attending  law  suits,  and  the  ultimate  maintenance  of  his  title  to 
the  land  in  question.  Without  wishing  to  disturb  the  pleasure  of 
his  dream,  I  would  say  to  him  that  it  is  not  impossible,  that  he 
may  yet  be  taught  to  sing  a  different  song  in  relation  to  the 
matter. 

At  the  end  of  Miller's  deposition,  Adams  asks,  "Will  Mr.  Lin- 
csoln  now  say  that  he  is  almost  convinced  my  title  to  tliis  ten  acre 


278  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN  ' 

tract  of  land  is  founded  in  fraud  ? "  I  answer,  I  will  not.  I  will 
now  change  the  phraseology  so  as  to  make  it  run — I  am  quite 
convinced,  &c.  I  cannot  pass  in  silence  Adams's  assertion  that 
he  has  proved  that  the  forged  assignment  was  not  in  the  deed 
when  it  came  from  his  house  by  Talbott  f  the  Recorder.  In  this, 
although  Talbott  has  sworn  that  the  assignment  was  in  the  bundle 
of  deed  when  it  came  from  his  house,  Adams  has  the  unaccountable 
assurance  to  say  that  he  has  proved  the  contrary  by  Talbott. 
Let  him  or  his  friends  attempt  to  show,  wherein  he  proved  any 
such  thing  by  Talbott. 

In  his  publication  of  the  6th  of  September  he  hinted  to  Tal 
bott,  that  he  might  ~be  mistaken.  In  his  present,  speaking  of  Tal 
bott  and  me  he  says  "  They  may  have  been  imposed  upon'9  Can 
any  man  of  the  least  penetration  fail  to  see  the  object  of  this? 
After  he  has  stormed  and  raged  till  he  hopes  and  imagines  he  has 
got  us  a  little  scared  he  wishes  to  softly  whisper  in  our  ears,  "  If 
you'll  quit  I  will."  If  he  could  get  us  to  say,  that  some  unknown, 
undefined  being  had  slipped  the  assignment  into  our  hands  without 
our  knowledge,  not  a  doubt  remains  but  that  he  would  immedi 
ately  discover,  that  we  were  the  purest  men  on  earth.  This  is 
the  ground  he  evidently  wishes  us  to  understand  he  is  willing 
to  compromise  upon.  But  we  ask  no  such  charity  at  his  hands. 
We  are  neither  mistaken  nor  imposed  upon.  We  have  made  the 
statements  we  have,  because  we  know  them  to  be  true  and  we 
choose  to  live  or  die  by  them. 

Esq.  Carter,  who  is  Adams's  friend,  personal  and  political,  will 
recollect,  that,  on  the  5th  of  this  month,  he,  (Adams)  with  a 
great  affectation  of  modesty,  declared  that  he  would  never  intro 
duce  his  own  child  as  a  witness.  Notwithstanding  this  affectation 
of  modesty,  he  has  in  his  present  publication  introduced  his  child 
as  witness;  and  as  if  to  show  with  hoT7  much  contempt  he  could 
treat  his  own  declaration,  he  has  had  this  same  Esq.  Carter  to 
administer  the  oath  to  him.  And  so  important  a  witness  does  he 
consider  him,  and  so  entirely  does  the  whole  of  his  entire  present 
production  depend  upon  the  testimony  of  his  child,  that  in  it  he 
has  mentioned  "my  son,"  "my  son  Lucian,"  "Lucian,  my  son," 
and  the  like  expressions  no  less  than  fifteen  different  times.  Let 
it  be  remembered  here,  that  I  have  shown  the  affidavit  of  "my 
darling  son  Lucian"  to  be  false  by  the  evidence  apparent  on 
its  own  face;  and  I  now  ask  if  that  affidavit  be  taken  away  what 
foundation  will  the  fabric  have  left  to  stand  upon  ? 

General  Adams's  publications  and  out-door  maneuvring  taken  in 
connection  with  the  editorial  articles  of  the  "  Republican,"  are  not 
more  foolish  and  contradictory  than  they  are  ludicrous  and  amus 
ing.  One  week  the  "Republican"  notifies  the  public  that  Gen, 
Adams  is  preparing  an  instrument  that  will  tear,  rend,  split,  rive, 
blow  up,  confound,  overwhelm,  annihilate,  extinguish,  exterminate, 
burst  asunder,  and  grind  to  powder  all  its  slanderers,  and  particu 
larly  Talbott  and  Lincoln — all  of  which  is  to  be  done  in  due  time'. 


APPENDIX  379 

Then  for  two  or  three  weeks  all  is  calm-— not  a  word  daid.  Again 
the  "Republican"  comes  forth  with  a  mere  passing  remark  that 
"  Public  opinion  has  decided  in  favor  of  Gen.  Adams,"  and  inti 
mates  that  he  will  give  himself  no  more  trouble  about  the  matter. 
In  the  meantime  Adams  himself  is  prowling  about,  and  as  Burns 
says  of  the  Devil,  "  For  prey,  a'  holes  and  corners  tryin',"  and 
in  one  instance,  goes  so  far  as  to  take  an  old  acquaintance  of  mine 
several  steps  from  a  crowd  and  apparently  weighed  down  with 
the  importance  of  his  business,  gravely  and  solemnly  asks  him  if 
|" Tie  ever  heard  Lincoln  say  he  was  a  deist."  Anon  the  "Repub 
lican"  comes  again,  "We  invite  the  attention  of  the  public  to 
General  Adams's  communication,"  &c.,  "  The  victory  is  a  great 
one,"  "  The  triumph  is  overwhelming."  (I  really  believe  the  edi 
tor  of  the  Illinois  "  Republican  "  is  fool  enough  to  think  General 
Adams  is  an  honest  man.)  Then  Gen.  Adams  leads  off — "  Authors 
most  egregiously  mistaken"  &c., "  most  wofully  shall  their  pre 
sumption  be  punished"  &c.  (Lord,  have  mercy  on  us.)  "  The  hour 
is  yet  to  come,  yea  nigh  at  hand — (how  long  first  do  you  reckon?) 
— when  the  '  Journal '  and  its  junto  shall  say,  I  have  appeared  too 
early" — "  Then  infamy  shall  lie  laid  bare  to  the  public  gaze"  Sud 
denly  the  Gen.  appears  to  relent  at  the  severity  with  which  he  is 
treating  us  and  he  exclaims,  "  The  condemnation  of  my  enemies 
is  the  inevitable  result  of  my  own  defense"  For  your  health's 
sake  dear  Gen.,  do  not  permit  your  tenderness  of  heart  to  afflict 
you  so  much  on  our  account.  For  some  reason  (perhaps  because  we 
are  killed  so  quickly)  we  shall  never  be  sensible  of  our  suffering. 

Farewell,  General.  I  will  see  you  again  at  Court,  if  not  before — 
when  and  where  we  will  settle  the  question  whether  you  or  the 
widow  shall  have  the  land.  A.  LINCOLN. 

October  18,  1837. 

SPEECH  BY  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  BEFORE  THE  ILLI 
NOIS  LEGISLATURE  IN  JANUARY,  1837. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  upon  the  resolution  offered  by 
Mr.  Linder,  to  institute  an  enquiry  into  the  management  of 
the  affairs  of  the  State  Bank. 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  :  Lest  I  should  fall  into  the  too  common  error,  of 
being  mistaken  in  regard  to  which  side  I  design  to  l.e  upon,  I  shall 
make  it  my  first  care  to  remove  all  doubt  on  that  point,  by  declar 
ing  that  I  am  opposed  to  the  resolution  under  consideration,  in 
toto.  Before  I  proceed  to  the  body  of  the  subject,  I  will  further 
remark,  that  it  is  not  without  a  considerable  degree  of  appre 
hension,  that  I  venture  to  cross  the  track  of  the  gentleman  from 
Coles  (Mr.  Linder).  Indeed,  I  do  not  believe  I  could  muster  a 
sufficiency  of  courage  to  come  in  contact  with  that  gentleman,  were 
it  not  for  the  fact,  that  he,  some  days  since,  most  graciously  con 
descended  to  assure  us  that  he  would  never  be  found  wasting  am- 


280  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

munition  on  small  game.  On  the  same  fortunate  occasion,  he 
further  gave  us  to  understand,  that  he  regarded  himself  as  be 
ing  decidedly  the  superior  of  our  common  friend  from  Randolph 
(Mr.  Shields) ;  and  feeling,  as  I  really  do,  that  I,  to  say  the  most 
of  myself,  am  nothing  more  than  the  peer  of  our  friend  from  Ran 
dolph,  I  shall  regard  the  gentleman  from  Coles  as  decidedly  my 
superior  also,  and  consequently,  in  the  course  of  what  I  shall 
have  to  say,  whenever  I  shall  have  occasion  to  allude  to  that  gen 
tleman,  I  shall  endeavor  to  adopt  that  kind  of  court  language 
which  I  understand  to  be  due  to  decided  superiority.  In  one 
faculty,  at  least,  there  can  be  no  dispute  of  the  gentleman's  su 
periority  over  me,  and  most  other  men;  and  that  is,  the  faculty  of 
entangling  a  subject,  so  that  neither  himself,  or  any  other  man, 
can  find  head  or  tail  to  it.  Here  he  has  introduced  a  resolution, 
embracing  ninety-nine  printed  lines  across  common  writing  paper, 
and  yet  more  than  one-half  of  his  opening  speech  has  been  made 
upon  subjects  about  which  there  is  not  one  word  said  in  his  reso 
lution. 

Though  his  resolution  embraces  nothing  in  regard  to  the  con 
stitutionality  of  the  Bank,  much  of  what  he  has  said  has  been 
with  a  view  to  make  the  impression  that  it  was  unconstitutional 
in  its  inception.  Now,  although  I  am  satisfied  that  an  ample  field 
may  be  found  within  the  pale  of  the  resolution,  at  least  for  small 
game,  yet  as  the  gentleman  has  travelled  out  of  it,  I  feel  that  I 
may,  with  all  due  humility,  venture  to  follow  him.  The  gentle 
man  has  discovered  that  some  gentleman  at  Washington  city  has 
been  upon  the  very  eve  of  deciding  our  Bank  unconstitutional, 
and  that  he  would  probably  have  completed  his  very  authentic 
decision,  had  not  some  one  of  the  Bank  officers  placed  his  hand 
upon  his  mouth,  and  begged  him  to  withhold  it.  The  fact  that 
the  individuals  composing  our  Supreme  Court,  have,  in  an  official 
capacity,  decided  in  favor  of  the  constitutionality  of  the  Bank, 
would,  in  my  mind,  seem  a  sufficient  answer  to  this.  It  is  a  fact 
known  to  all,  that  the  members  of  the  Supreme  Court,  together 
with  the  Governor,  form  a  Council  of  Revision,  and  that  this 
Council  approved  this  Bank  Charter.  I  ask,  then,  if  the  extra- 
judicial  decision — not  quite,  but  almost  made,  by  the  gentleman 
at  Washington,  before  whom,  by  the  way,  the  question  of  the 
constitutionality  of  our  Bank  never  has,  nor  never  can  come — 
is  to  be  taken  as  paramount  to  a  decision  officially  made  by  that 
tribunal,  by  which  and  which  alone,  the  constitutionality  of  the 
Bank  can  never  be  settled?  But  aside  from  this  view  of  the  sub 
ject,  I  would  ask,  if  the  committee  which  this  resolution  proposes 
to  appoint,  are  to  examine  into  the  constitutionality  of  the  Bank? 
Are  they  to  be  clothed  with  power  to  send  for  persons  and  papers, 
for  this  object?  And  after  they  have  found  the  Bank  to  be 
unconstitutional,  and  decided  it  so,  how  are  they  to  enforce  their 
decision?  What  will  their  decision  amount  to?  They  cannot 
compel  the  Bank  to  ceaae  operations,  or  to  change  the  course  of  it? 


APPENDIX  281 

operations.  What  good,  then,  can  their  labors  result  in?  Cer 
tainly  none. 

The  gentleman  asks,  if  we,  without  an  examination,  shall, 
by  giving  the  State  deposits  to  the  Bank,  and  by  taking  the  stock 
reserved  for  the  State,  legalize  its  former  misconduct?  Now  I 
do  not  pretend  to  possess  sufficient  legal  knowledge  to  decide, 
whether  a  legislative  enactment,  proposing  to,  and  accepting  from, 
the  Bank,  certain  terms,  which  would  have  the  effect  to  legalize 
or  wipe  out  its  former  errors,  or  not;  but  I  can  assure  the  gen 
tleman,  if  such  should  be  the  effect,  he  has  already  got  behind 
the  settlement  of  accounts;  for  it  is  well  known  to  all,  that  the 
Legislature,  at  its  last  session,  passed  a  supplemental  Bank  char 
ter,  which  the  Bank  has  since  accepted,  and  which,  according  to  his 
doctrine,  has  legalized  all  the  alleged  violations  of  its  original 
charter  in  the  distribution  of  its  stock. 

I  now  proceed  to  the  resolution.  By  examination  it  will  be  found 
that  the  first  thirty-three  lines,  being  precisely  one-third  of  the 
whole,  relate  exclusively  to  the  distribution  of  the  stock  by  the 
commissioners  appointed  by  the  State.  Now,  Sir,  it  is  clear  that 
no  question  can  arise  on  this  portion  of  the  resolution,  except 
a  question  between  capitalists  in  regard  to  the  ownership  of  stock. 
Some  gentlemen  have  their  stock  in  their  hands,  while  others, 
who  have  more  money,  than  they  know  what  to  do  with,  want  it; 
and  this,  and  this  alone,  is  the  question,  to  settle  which  we  are 
called  on  to  squander  thousands  of  the  people's  money.  What 
interest,  let  me  ask,  have  the  people  in  the  settlement  of  this  ques 
tion?  What  difference  is  it  to  them  whether  the  stock  is  owned 
by  Judge  Smith  or  Sam  Wiggins?  If  any  gentleman  be  entitled 
to  stock  in  the  Bank,  which  he  is  kept  out  of  possession  of  by 
others,  let  him  assert  his  right  in  the  Supreme  Court,  and  let  him 
or  his  antagonist,  whichever  may  be  found  in  the  wrong,  pay  the 
costs  of  suit.  It  is  an  old  maxim  and  a  very  sound  one,  that  he 
that  dances  should  always  pay  the  fiddler  Now,  Sir,  in  the  pres 
ent  case,  if  any  gentlemen,  whose  money  is  a  burden  to  them, 
choose  to  lead  off  a  dance,  I  am  decidedly  opposed  to  the  people's 
money  being  used  to  pay  the  fiddler.  No  one  can  doubt  that  the 
examination  proposed  by  this  resolution,  must  cost  the  State 
some  ten  or  twelve  thousand  dollars ;  and  all  this  to  settle  a  question 
in  which  the  people  have  no  interest,  and  about  which  they  care 
nothing.  These  capitalists  generally  act  harmoniously  and  in  con 
cert,  to  fleece  the  people,  and  now,  that  they  have  got  into  a  quar 
rel  with  themselves,  we  are  called  upon  to  appropriate  the  people's 
money  to  settle  the  quarrel. 

I  leave  this  part  of  the  resolution  and  proceed  to  the  remainder. 
It  will  be  found  that  no  charge  in  the  remaining  part  of  the  reso 
lution,  if  true,  amounts  to  the  violation  of  the  Bank  charter, 
except  one,  which  I  will  notice  in  due  time.  It  might  seem  quite 
sufficient  to  say  no  more  upon  any  of  these  charges  or  insinua- 
tions,  than  enough  to  show  they  are  »AQt  violations  of  the  charter; 


282  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

yet,  as  they  are  ingeniously  framed  and  handled,  with  a  view  to 
deceive  and  mislead,  I  will  notice  in  their  order,  all  the  most 
prominent  of  them.  The  first  of  these  is  in  relation  to  a  con 
nection  between  our  Bank  and  several  Banking  institutions  in  other 
States.  Admitting  this  connection  to  exist,  I  should  like  to  see 
the  gentleman  from  Coles,  or  any  other  gentleman,  undertake  to 
show  that  there  is  any  harm  in  it.  What  can  there  be  in  such  a 
connection,  that  the  people  of  Illinois  are  willing  to  pay  their 
money  to  get  a  peep  into?  By  a  reference  to  the  tenth  section  of 
the  Bank  charter,  any  gentleman  can  see  that  the  framers  of  the 
act  contemplated  the  holding  of  stock  in  the  institutions  of  other 
corporations.  Why,  then,  is  it,  when  neither  law  nor  justice  for 
bids  it,  that  we  are  asked  to  spend  out  time  and  money,  in  inquir 
ing  into  its  truth  ? 

The  next  charge,  in  the  order  of  time,  is,  that  some  officer,  di 
rector,  clerk  or  servant  of  the  Bank,  has  been  required  to  take 
an  oath  of  secrecy  in  relation  to  the  affairs  of  said  Bank.  Now, 
I  do  not  know  whether  this  be  true  or  false — neither  do  I  believe 
any  honest  man  cares.  I  know  that  the  seventh  section  of  the 
charter  expressly  guarantees  to  the  Bank  the  right  of  making, 
under  -certain  restrictions,  such  by-laws  as  it  may  think  fit ;  and  I 
further  know  that  the  requiring  an  oath  of  secrecy  would  not 
transcend  those  restrictions.  What,  then,  if  the  Bank  has  chosen 
to  exercise  this  right?  Who  can  it  injure?  Does  not  every  mer 
chant  have  his  secret  mark?  and  who  is  ever  silly  enough  to  com 
plain  of  it?  I  presume  if  the  Bank  does  require  any  such  oath  of 
secrecy,  it  is  done  through  a  motive  of  delicacy  to  those  indi 
viduals  who  deal  with  it.  Why,  sir,  not  many  days  since,  one 
gentleman  upon  this  floor,  who,  by  the  way  I  have  no  doubt  is  now 
ready  to  join  this  hue  and  cry  against  the  Bank,  indulged  in  a 
phillippic  against  one  of  the  Bank  officials,  because,  as  he  said, 
he  had  divulged  a  secret. 

Immediately  following  this  last  charge,  there  are  several  in 
sinuations  in  the  resolution,  which  are  too  silly  to  require  any 
sort  of  notice,  were  it  not  for  the  fact,  that  they  conclude  by 
saying,  "  to  the  great  injury  of  the  people  at  large."  In  answer 
to  this  I  would  say  that  it  is  strange  enough,  that  the  people 
are  suffering  these  "  great  injuries,"  and  yet  are  not  sensible  of 
it!  Singular  indeed  that  the  people  should  be  writhing  under  op 
pression  and  injury,  and  yet  not  one  among  them  to  be  found,  to 
raise  the  voice  of  complaint.  If  the  Bank  be  inflicting  injury 
upon  the  people,  why  is  it,  that  not  a  single  petition  is  presented  to 
this  body  on  the  subject?  If  the  Bank  really  be  a  grievance, 
why  is  it,  that  no  one  of  the  real  people  is  found  to  ask  redress 
of  it?  The  truth  is,  no  such  oppression  exists.  If  it  did,  our 
people  would  groan  with  memorials  and  petitions,  and  we  would 
not  be  permitted  to  rest  day  or  night,  till  we  had  put  it  down  The 
people  know  their  rights,  and  they  are  never  slow  to  assert  and 
maintain  them,  when  they  are  invaded.  Let  *iiem  call  for  ai) 


APPENDIX  283 

Investigation,  and  I  shall  ever  stand  ready  to  respond  to  the  call. 
But  they  have  made  no  such  call.  I  make  the  assertion  boldly,  and 
without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  no  man,  who  does  not  hold  an 
office,  or  does  not  aspire  to  one,  has  ever  found  any  fault  of  the 
Bank.  It  has  doubled  the  prices  of  the  products  of  their  farms, 
and  filled  their  pockets  with  a  sound  circulating  medium,  and  they 
are  all  well  pleased  with  its  operations.  No,  Sir,  it  is  the  politician 
who  is  the  first  to  sound  the  alarm,  (which,  by  the  way,  is  a  false 
one.)  It  is  he,  who,  by  these  unholy  means,  is  endeavoring  to 
blow  up  a  storm  that  he  may  ride  upon  and  direct.  It  is  he, 
and  he  alone,  that  here  proposes  to  spend  thousands  of  the  people's 
public  treasure,  for  no  other  advantage  to  them,  than  to  make 
valueless  in  their  pockets  the  reward  of  their  industry.  Mr. 
Chairman,  this  work  is  exclusively  the  work  of  politicians;  a  set 
of  men  who  have  interests  aside  from  the  interests  of  the  people, 
and  who,  to  say  the  most  of  them,  are,  taken  as  a  mass,  at  least 
one  long  step  removed  from  honest  men.  I  say  this  with  the 
greater  freedom,  because,  being  a  politician  myself,  none  can 
regard  it  as  personal. 

Again,  it  is  charged,  or  rather  insinuated,  that  officers  of  the 
Bank  have  loaned  money  at  usurious  rates  of  interest.  Suppose 
this  to  be  true,  are  we  to  send  a  committee  of  this  House  to 
enquire  into  it?  Suppose  the  committee  should  find  it  true,  can 
they  redress  the  injured  individuals?  Assuredly  not.  If  any 
individual  had  been  injured  in  this  way,  is  there  not  an  ample 
remedy  to  be  found  in  the  laws  of  the  land?  Does  the  gentleman 
from  Coles  know,  that  there  is  a  statute  standing  in  full  force, 
making  it  highly  penal,  for  an  individual  to  loan  money  at  a  higher 
rate  of  interest  than  twelve  per  cent?  If  he  does  not  he  is  too 
ignorant  to  be  placed  at  the  head  of  the  committee  which  his 
resolution  proposes;  and  if  he  does,  his  neglect  to  mention  it, 
ehows  him  to  be  too  uncandid  to  merit  the  respect  or  confidence  of 
any  one. 

But  besides  all  this,  if  the  Bank  were  struck  from,  existence, 
could  not  the  owners  of  the  capital  still  loan  it  usuriously,  as  well 
as  now?  Whatever  the  Bank,  or  its  officers,  may  have  done,  I 
know  that  usurious  transactions  were  much  more  frequent  and 
enormous,  before  the  commencement  of  its  operations,  than  they 
have  ever  been  since. 

The  next  insinuation  is,  that  the  Bank  has  refused  specie  pay 
ments.  This,  if  true,  is  a  violation  of  the  charter.  But  there  is 
not  the  least  probability  of  its  truth;  because,  if  such  had  been 
the  fact,  the  individual  to  whom  payment  was  refused,  would 
have  had  an  interest  in  making  it  public,  by  suing  for  the  dam 
ages  to  which  the  charter  entitles  him.  Yet  no  such  thing  has 
been  done;  and  the  strong  presumption  is,  that  the  insinuation  is 
false  and  groundless. 

From  this  to  the  end  of  the  resolution,  there  is  nothing  that 
merits  attention — I  therefore  drop  the  particular  examination  of  it. 


284  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

By  a  general  view  of  the  resolution,  it  will  be  seen  that  a  prin 
cipal  object  of  the  committee  is,  to  examine  into,  and  ferret  out, 
a  mass  of  corruption,  supposed  to  have  been  committed  by  the 
commissioners  who  apportioned  the  stock  of  the  Bank.  I  be 
lieve  it  is  universally  understood  and  acknowledged,  that  all  men 
will  ever  act  correctly,  unless  they  have  a  motive  to  do  otherwise. 
If  this  be  true,  we  can  only  suppose  that  the  commissioners  acted 
corruptly,  by  also  supposing  that  they  were  bribed  to  do  so.  Tak 
ing  this  view  of  the  subject,  I  would  ask  if  the  Bank  is  likely  to 
find  it  more  difficult  to  bribe  the  committee  of  seven,  which  we 
are  about  to  appoint,  than  it  may  have  found  it  to  bribe  the  com 
missioners  ? 

(Here  Mr.  Linder  called  to  order.  The  Chair  decided  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  not  out  of  order.  Mr.  Linder  appealed  to  the  House; 
— but  before  the  question  was  put,  withdrew  his  appeal,  saying,  he 
preferred  to  let  the  gentleman  go  on;  he  thought  he  would  break 
his  own  neck.  Mr.  Lincoln  proceeded) — 

Another  gracious  condescension,  I  acknowledge  it  with  grati 
tude.  I  know  I  was  not  out  of  order;  and  I  know  every  sensible 
man  in  the  House  knows  it.  I  was  not  saying  that  the  gentleman 
from  Coles  could  not  (?)  be  bribed,  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  will  I 
say  he  could  not.  In  that  particular  I  leave  him  where  I  found 
him.  I  was  only  endeavoring  to  show  that  there  was  at  least  as 
great  a  probability  of  any^  seven  members  that  could  be  selected 
from  this  House,  being  bribed  to  act  corruptly,  as  there  was,  that 
the  twenty-four  commissioners  had  been  so  bribed.  By  a  ref 
erence  to  the  ninth  section  of  the  Bank  charter,  it  will  be  seen 
that  those  commissioners  were  John  Tilson,  Robert  K.  McLaugh- 
lin,  Daniel  Wann,  A.  G.  S.  Wight,  John  C.  Riley,  W.  H.  David 
son,  Edward  M.  Wilson,  Edward  L.  Pierson,  Robert  R.  Green, 
Ezra  Baker,  Aquilla  Wren,  John  Taylor,  Samuel  C.  Christy,  Ed 
mund  Roberts,  Benjamin  Godfrey,  Thomas  Mather,  A.  M.  Jenkins, 
W.  Linn,  W.  S.  Gilman,  Charles  Prentice,  Richard  I.  Hamilton, 
A.  H.  Buckner,  W.  F.  Thornton,  and  Edmund  D.  Taylor. 

These  are  twenty-four  of  the  most  respectable  men  in  the  State. 
Probably  no  twenty-four  men  could  be  selected  in  the  State,  with 
whom  the  people  are  better  acquainted,  or  in  whose  honor  and 
integrity,  they  would  more  readily  place  confidence.  And  I  now 
repeat,  that  there  is  less  probability  that  those  men  have  been 
bribed  and  corrupted,  than  that  any  seven  men,  or  rather  any 
six  men,  that  could  be  selected  from  the  members  of  this  House, 
might  be  so  bribed  and  corrupted;  even  though  they  were  headed 
and  led  on  by  "  decided  superiority  "  himself. 

In  all  seriousness,  I  ask  every  reasonable  man,  if  an  issue  be 
joined  by  these  twenty-four  commissioners,  on  the  one  part,  and 
any  other  seven  men,  on  the  other  part,  and  the  whole  depend 
upon  the  honor  and  integrity  of  the  contending  parties,  to  which 
party  would  the  greatest  degree  of  credit  be  due?  Again:  Arv- 
other  consideration  is,  that  we  have  no  right  to  make  the  exam- 


APPENDIX  285 

ination.  What  I  shall  say  upon  this  head,  I  design  exclusively 
for  the  law-loving  and  law-abiding  part  of  the  House.  To  those 
who  claim  omnipotence  for  the  Legislature,  and  who  in  the  plenti- 
tude  of  their  assumed  powers,  are  disposed  to  disregard  the  Con 
stitution,  law,  good  faith,  moral  right,  and  every  thing  else,  1 
have  not  a  word  to  say.  But  to  the  law-abiding  part  I  say,  examine 
the  Bank  charter,  go  examine  the  Constitution;  go  examine  the 
acts  that  the  General  Assembly  of  this  State  has  passed,  and  you 
will  find  just  as  much  authority  given  in  each  and  every  of  them, 
to  compel  the  Bank  to  bring  its  coffers  to  this  hall,  and  to  pour 
their  contents  upon  this  floor,  as  to  compel  it  to  submit  to  thia 
examination  which  this  resolution  proposes.  Why,  sir,  the  gen 
tleman  from  Coles,  the  mover  of  this  resolution,  very  lately  denied 
on  this  floor,  that  the  Legislature  had  any  right  to  repeal,  or  other 
wise  meddle  with  its  own  acts,  when  those  acts  were  made  in  the 
nature  of  contracts,  and  had  been  accepted  and  acted  on  by  other 
parties.  Now  I  ask,  if  this  resolution  does  not  propose,  for  thia 
House  alone,  to  do,  what  he,  but  the  other  day,  denied  the  right 
of  the  whole  Legislature  to  do  ?  He  must  either  abandon  the  posi 
tion  he  then  took,  or  he  must  now  vote  against  his  own  resolution.  It 
is  no  difference  to  me,  and  I  presume  but  little  to  any  one  else, 
which  he  does. 

I  am  by  no  means  the  special  advocate  of  the  Bank.  I  have 
long  thought  that  it  would  be  well  for  it  to  report  its  condition  to 
the  General  Assembly,  and  that  cases  might  occur,  when  it  might 
be  proper  to  make  an  examination  of  its  affairs  by  a  committee. 
Accordingly,  during  the  last  session,  while  a  bill  supplemental  to 
the  Bank  charter,  was  pending  before  the  House,  I  offered  an 
amendment  to  the  same,  in  these  words :  "  The  said  corporation 
shall,  at  the  next  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  at  each 
subsequent  General  Session,  during  the  existence  of  its  charter, 
report  to  the  same  the  amount  of  debts  due  from  said  corpora 
tion;  the  amount  of  debts  due  to  the  same;  the  amount  of  specie 
in  its  vaults,  and  an  account  of  all  lands  then  owned  by  the  same, 
and  the  amount  for  which  such  lands  have  been  taken;  and  more 
over,  if  said  corporation  shall  at  any  time  neglect  or  refuse  to 
submit  its  books,  papers,  and  all  and  every  thing  necessary,  for  a 
full  and  fair  examination  of  its  affairs,  to  any  person  or  persona 
appointed  by  the  General  Assembly,  for  the  purpose  of  making 
such  examination,  the  said  corporation  shall  forfeit  its  charter." 

This  amendment  was  negatived  by  a  vote  of  34  to  15.  Eleven 
of  the  34  who  voted  against  it,  are  now  members  of  this  House; 
and  though  it  would  be  out  of  order  to  call  their  names,  I  hope 
they  will  all  recollect  themselves,  and  not  vote  for  this  examina 
tion  to  be  made  without  authority,  inasmuch  as  they  refused  to 
receive  the  authority  when  it  was  in  their  power  to  do  so. 

I  have  said  that  cases  might  occur,  when  an  examination  might 
be  proper;  but  I  do  not  believe  any  such  case  has  now  occurred; 
and  if  it  has,  I  should  still  be  opposed  to  making  an  examination 


286  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

without  legal  authority.  I  am  opposed  to  encouraging  that  law 
less  and  mobocratic  spirit,  whether  in  relation  to  the  Bank  or  any 
thing  else,  which  is  already  abroad  in  the  land;  and  is  spreading 
with  rapid  and  fearful  impetuosity,  to  the  ultimate  overthrow  of 
every  institution,  of  even  moral  principle,  in  which  persons  and 
property  have  hitherto  found  security. 

But  supposing  we  had  the  authority,  I  would  ask  what  good 
can  result  from  the  examination?  Can  we  declare  the  Bank  un 
constitutional,  and  compel  it  to  desist  from  the  abuses  of  its 
power,  provided  we  find  such  abuses  to  exist?  Can  we  repair  the 
injuries  which  it  may  have  done  to  individuals?  Most  certainly 
we  can  do  none  of  these  things.  Why  then  shall  we  spend  the 
public  money  in  such  employment?  O,  say  the  examiners,  we 
can  injure  the  credit  of  the  Bank,  if  nothing  else. —  Please  tell  me, 
gentlemen,  who  will  suffer  most  by  that?  You  cannot  injure,  to 
any  extent,  the  stockholders.  They  are  men  of  wealth — of  large 
capital;  and  consequently,  beyond  the  power  of  malice.  But  by 
injuring  the  credit  of  the  Bank,  you  will  depreciate  the  value  of 
its  paper  in  the  hands  of  the  honest  and  unsuspecting  farmer  and 
mechanic,  and  that  is  all  you  can  do.  But  suppose  you  could 
affect  your  whole  purpose;  suppose  you  could  wipe  the  Bank 
from  existence,  which  is  the  grand  ultimatum  of  the  project,  what 
would  be  the  consequence?  Why,  sir,  we  should  spend  several 
thousand  dollars  of  the  public  treasure  in  the  operation,  annihi 
late  the  currency  of  the  State;  render  valueless  in  the  hands  of 
our  people  that  reward  of  their  former  labors ;  and  finally,  be  once 
more  under  the  comfortable  obligation  of  paying  the  Wiggins' 
loan,  principal  and  interest. 

(The  foregoing  speech  is  found  in  the  Saiigamo  "Journal"  of 
January  28,  1837.  It  was  copied  by  the  ' '  Journal "  from  the  Van- 
dalia  "  Free  Press.") 

SPRINGFIELD,  June  llth,  1839. 
DEAR  Kow: — 

Mr.  Redman  informs  me  that  you  wish  me  to  write  you  the 
particulars  of  a  conversation  between  Dr.  Felix  and  myself  rela 
tive  to  you.  The  Dr.  overtook  me  between  Rushville  and  Beards- 
town.  He,  after  learning  that  I  had  lived  at  Springfield,  asked 
if  I  was  acquainted  with  you.  I  told  him  I  was.  He  said  you 
had  lately  been  elected  constable  in  Adams,  but  that  you  never 
would  be  again.  I  asked  him  why?  He  said  the  people  there, 
had  found  out  that  you  had  been  Sheriff  or  Deputy  Sheriff  in 
Sangamon  County,  and  that  you  came  off  and  left  your  securities 
to  suffer.  He  then  asked  me  if  I  did  not  know  such  to  be  the  fact. 
1  told  him  I  did  not  think  you  had  ever  been  Sheriff  or  Deputy 
Sheriff  in  Sangamon;  but  that  I  thought  you  had  been  consta 
ble.  I  further  told  him  that  if  you  had  left  your  securities  to 
suffer  in  that  or  any  other  case,  I  had  never  heard  of  it,  and  that 
if  it  had  been  so,  I  thought  I  would  have  heard  of  it. 


APPENDIX  287 

If  the  Dr.  is  telling  that  I  told  him  anything  against  you  what 
ever,  I  authorize  you  to  contradict  it  flatly.  We  have  no  news  here. 

Your  friend,  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 
(Original  owned  by  C.  F.  Gunther,  Chicago,  HI.) 

SPRINGJLBLD,  ILL.,  Feby.  16,  1842. 
G.  B.  SHELEDY,  ESQR.  : 

Yours  of  the  10th  is  duly  received.  Judge  Logan  and  myself 
are  doing  business  together  now,  and  we  are  willing  to  attend 
to  your  cases  as  you  propose — As  to  the  terms,  we  are  willing  to 
attend  each  case  you  prepare  and  send  us  for  $10  (when  there  shall 
be  no  opposition)  to  be  sent  in  advance,  or  you  to  know  that  it 
is  safe —  It  takes  $5.75  of  cost  to  start  upon,  that  is,  $1.75  to 
clerk,  and  $2  to  each  of  two  publishers  of  papers —  Judge  Logan 
thinks  it  will  take  the  balance  of  $20  to  carry  a  case  through — 
This  must  be  advanced  from  time  to  time  as  the  services  are  per 
formed,  as  the  officers  will  not  act  without  —  I  do  not  know 
whether  you  can  be  admitted  an  attorney  of  the  Federal  -court 
in  your  absence  or  not;  nor  is  it  material,  as  the  business  can 
be  done  in  our  names. 

Thinking  it  may  aid  you  a  little,  I  send  you  one  of  our  blank 
forms  of  Petitions —  It,  you  will  see,  is  framed  to  be  sworn  to 
before  the  Federal  court  clerk,  and,  in  your  cases,  will  have  (to) 
be  so  far  changed,  as  to  be  sworn  to  before  the  clerk  of  your  cir 
cuit  court;  and  his  certificate  must  be  accompanied  with  his  offi 
cial  seal —  The  schedules  too,  must  be  attended  to —  Be  sure 
that  they  contain  the  creditors  names,  their  residences,  the 
amounts  due  each,  the  debtors  names,  their  residences,  and  the 
amounts  they  owe,  also  all  property  and  where  located. 

Also  be  sure  that  the  schedules  are  signed  by  the  applicants 
as  well  as  the  Petition. 

Publication  will  have  to  be  made  here  in  one  paper,  and  in  one 
nearest  the  residence  of  the  applicant.  Write  us  in  each  case 
where  the  last  advertisement  is  to  be  sent,  whether  to  you  or  to 
what  paper. 

I  believe  I  have  now  said  everything  that  can  be  of  any  ad 
vantage.  Your  friend,  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Historical  Dep't  of  Iowa,  loaned  by  the 
Hon.  Charles  Aldrich,  curator,  Des  Moines,  Iowa.) 

February  22,  1842. 
To  GEORGE  E.  PICKETT. 

I  never  encourage  deceit,  and  falsehood,  especially  if  you  have 
got  a  bad  memory,  is  the  worst  enemy  a  fellow  can  have.  The 
fact  is  truth  is  your  truest  friend,  no  matter  what  the  circum- 


288  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

stances  are.  Notwithstanding  this  copy-book  preamble,  my  boy, 
I  am  inclined  to  suggest  a  little  prudence  on  your  part.  You  see 
I  have  a  congenital  aversion  to  failure,  and  the  sudden  announce 
ment  to  your  Uncle  Andrew  of  the  success  of  your  "  lamp-rubbing ;! 
might  possibly  prevent  your  passing  the  severe  physical  examina 
tion  to  which  you  will  be  subjected  in  order  to  enter  the  Military 
Academy.  You  see,  I  should  like  to  have  a  perfect  soldier  cred 
ited  to  dear  old  Illinois — no  broken  bones,  scalp  wounds,  etc.  So 
I  think  perhaps  it  might  be  wise  to  hand  this  letter  from  me,  in 
to  your  good  uncle  through  his  room-window  after  he  has  had  a 
comfortable  dinner,  and  watch  its  effect  from  the  top  of  the  pigeon- 
house. 

I  have  just  told  the  folks  here  in  Springfield  on  this  lllth  an 
niversary  of  the  birth  of  him  whose  name,  mightiest  in  the  cause 
of  civil  liberty,  still  mightiest  in  the  cause  of  moral  reformation, 
we  mention  in  solemn  awe,  in  naked,  deathless  splendor,  that 
the  one  victory  we  can  ever  call  complete  will  be  that  one  which 
proclaims  that  there  is  not  one  slave  or  one  drunkard  on  the  face 
of  God's  green  earth.  Recruit  for  this  victory. 

Now,  boy,  on  your  march,  don't  you  go  and  forget  the  old  maxim 
that  "  one  drop  of  honey  catches  more  flies  than  a  half -gallon  of 
gall."  Load  your  musket  with  this  maxim,  and  smoke  it  in  your 
pipe. 

(Original  owned  by  Lasalle  Corbell  Pickett.  Extracts  published 
in  "Tickett  &  His  Men.") 

SPRINGFIELD,  August  15,  1842. 
FRIEND  WALKER  : 

Enclosed  you  have  an  order  of  court  allowing  your  assignee  to 
sell  your  property  on  a  credit.  Nothing  is  said  in  it  about  allow 
ing  your  creditors  pay  for  what  they  may  purchase  without  money. 
We  however,  think  this  a  matter  of  no  consequence;  as  it  will  be 
a  matter  of  course  to  take  their  bonds  and  security,  as  of  other 
purchasers,  and  then,  in  the  final  settlement,  to  set  off  their  divi 
dends  against  those  bonds  in  whole  or  as  far  as  they  will  go. 

Yours,  &c., 

LOGAN  &  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  J.  H.  Franklin,  Lacon,  111.) 

John  Bennett. 

SPRINGFIELD,  March  7,  1843. 
FRIEND  BENNETT  : 

Your  letter  of  this  day  was  handed  me  by  Mr.  Miles —  It  is  too 
late  now  to  effect  the  object  you  desire — On  yesterday  morning 
the  most  of  the  whig  members  from  this  District  got  together  and 


APPENDIX  289 

agreed  to  hold  the  convention  at  Tremont  in  Tazewell  County — 
I  am  sorry  to  hear  that  any  of  the  whigs  of  your  County,  or  in 
deed  of  any  County,  should  longer  be  against  conventions. — 
On  last  Wednesday  evening  a  meeting  of  all  the  whigs  then 
here  from  all  parts  of  the  state  was  held,  and  the  question  of  the 
propriety  of  conventions  was  brought  up  and  fully  discussed,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  discussion  a  resolution  recommending  the  sys 
tem  of  conventions  to  all  the  whigs  of  the  state  was  unanimously 
adopted — Other  resolutions  were  also  passed,  all  of  which  will 
appear  in  the  next  Journal.  The  meeting  also  appointed  a  com 
mittee  to  draft  an  address  to  the  people  of  the  state,  which  ad 
dress  will  also  appear  in  the  next  Journal. 

In  it  you  will  find  a  brief  argument  in  favor  of  conventions — and 
although  I  wrote  it  myself  I  will  say  to  you  that  it  is  conclusive 
upon  the  point  and  can  not  be  reasonably  answered.  The  right 
way  for  you  to  do  is  hold  your  meeting  and  appoint  delegates  any 
how,  and  if  there  be  any  who  will  not  take  part,  let  it  be  so.— 
The  matter  will  work  so  well  this  time  that  even  they  who  now 
oppose  will  come  in  next  time. 

The  convention  is  to  be  held  at  Tremont  on  the  5th  of  April  and 
according  to  the  rule  we  have  adopted  your  County  is  to  have  dele 
gates — being  double  the  number  of  your  representation — 

If  there  be  any  good  whig  who  is  disposed  to  stick  out  against 
conventions  get  him  at  least  to  read  the  argument  in  their  favor 
in  the  address. 

Yours  as  ever. 

(Original  owned  by  E.  B.  Oeltjen,  Petersburg,  111.) 

SPRINGFIELD,  May  llth,  1843. 
FRIEND  HARDIN: 

Butler  informs  me  that  he  received  a  letter  from  you,  in  which 
you  expressed  some  doubt  whether  the  whigs  of  Sahgamon  will 
support  you  cordially —  You  may,  at  once,  dismiss  all  fears  on 
that  subject —  We  have  already  resolved  to  make  a  particular 
effort  to  give  you  the  very  largest  majority  possible  in  our  coun 
ty —  From  this,  no  whig  of  the  county  dissents —  We  have 
many  objects  for  doing  it.  We  make  it  a  matter  of  honor  and 
pride  to  do  it;  we  do  it,  because  we  love  the  whig  cause;  we  do 
it,  because  we  like  you  personally;  and  last,  we  wish  to  convince 
you,  that  we  do  not  bear  that  hatred  to  Morgan  county,  that 
you  people  have  so  long  seemed  to  imagine.  You  will  see  by  the 
journal  of  this  week,  that  we  propose,  upon  pain  of  losing  a  Bar 
becue,  to  give  you  twice  as  great  a  majority  in  this  county  as  you 
shall  receive  in  your  own.  I  got  up  the  proposal. 

Who  of  the  five  appointed,  is  to  write  the  District  address?  I 
did  the  labor  of  writing  one  address  this  year;  and  got  thunder 
for  my  reward.  Nothing  new  here.  Yours  as  ever, 

A..  LINCOLN. 


290  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

P.  S. — I  wish  you  would  measure  one  of  the  largest  of  those 
swords,  we  took  to  Alton,  and  write  me  the  length  of  it,  from  tip 
of  the  point  to  tip  of  the  hilt,  in  feet  and  inches,  I  have  a  dispute 
about  the  length.  A.  L. 

(Original  owned  by  Ellen  Hardin  Walworth,  New  York  City.) 

This  memorandum  witnesseth  that  Charles  Dresser  and  Abraham 
Lincoln  of  Springfield,  Illinois,  have  contracted  with  each  other  as 
follows : 

The  said  Dresser  is  to  convey  to  or  procure  to  be  conveyed  to  said 
Lincoln,  by  a  clear  title  in  fee  simple,  the  entire  premises  (ground 
and  improvements)  in  Springfield,  on  which  said  Dresser  now  re 
sides,  and  give  him  possession  of  said  premises,  on  or  before  the 
first  day  of  April  next — for  which  said  Lincoln,  at  or  before  the 
same  day,  is  to  pay  to  said  Dresser  twelve  hundred  dollars,  or  what 
said  Dresser  shall  then  at  his  option,  accept  as  equivalent  thereto; 
and  also  to  procure  to  be  conveyed  to  said  Dresser,  by  a  clear  title 
in  fee  simple,  the  entire  premises  (ground  and  building)  in  Spring 
field,  on  the  block  immediately  West  of  the  Public  square,  the 
building  on  which  is  now  occupied  by  H.  A.  Hough  as  a  shop,  being 
the  same  premises  some  time  since  conveyed  by  N.  W.  Edwards  and 
wife  to  said  Lincoln  and  Stephen  T.  Logan — Said  Dresser  takes 
upon  himself  to  arrange  with  said  Hough  for  the  possession  of  said 
shop  and  premises. 

CHARLES    DRESSEP 

Jan'y  16,  1844.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Signed  duplicates.) 

(Original  on  file  in  Springfield,  HI.) 

SPRINGFIELD,  May  21,  1844. 
DEAR  HARDIN: 

Knowing  that  you  have  correspondents  enough,  I  have  forborne 
to  trouble  you  heretofore;  and  I  now  only  do  so,  to  get  you  to 
set  a  matter  right  which  has  got  wrong  with  one  of  our  best 
friends.  It  is  old  uncle  Thomas  Campbell  of  Spring  Creek —  (Ber 
lin  P.  O.)  He  has  received  several  documents  from  you,  and  he 
says  they  are  old  newspapers  and  documents,  having  no  sort  of 
interest  in  them.  He  is,  therefore,  getting  a  strong  impression 
that  you  treat  him  with  disrespect.  This,  I  know,  is  a  mistaken 
impression;  and  you  must  correct  it.  The  way,  I  leave  to  your 
self.  Rob't  W.  Canfield,  says  he  would  like  to  have  a  document 
or  two  from  you. 

The  Locos  here  are  in  considerable  trouble  about  Van  Bureii's 
letter  on  Texas,  and  the  Virginia  electors.  They  are  growing  sick 
of  the  Tariff  question;  and  consequently  are  much  confounded  at 
V.  B.'s  cutting  them  off  from  the  new  Texas  question.  Nearly 
half  the  leaders  swear  they  wont  stand  it.  Of  those  are  Ford,  T, 


APPENDIX  291 

Campbell,  Ewing,  Calhoun  and  others.  They  don't  exactly  say 
they  won't  vote  for  V.  B.,  but  they  say  he  will  not  be  the  candi 
date,  and  that  they  are  for  Texas  anyhow.  As  ever  yours, 

A.  LINCOLN. 
(Original  owned  by  Ellen  Hardin  Walworth,  New  York  City.) 

To  General  John  J.  Hardin. 

SPRINGFIELD,  January  19,  1845. 
DEAR  GENERAL: 

I  do  not  wish  to  join  in  your  proposal  of  a  new  plan  for  the 
selection  of  a  whig  candidate  for  Congress,  because — 

1st.  I  am  entirely  satisfied  with  the  old  system  under  which 
you  and  Baker  were  successively  nominated  and  elected  to  Con 
gress;  and  because  the  Whigs  of  the  District  are  well  acquainted 
with  the  system,  and  so  far  as  I  know  or  believe,  are  well  satisfied 
with  it.  If  the  old  system  be  thought  to  be  vague,  as  to  all  the 
delegates  of  the  county  voting  the  same  way;  or  as  to  instructions 
to  them  as  to  whom  they  are  to  vote  for;  or  as  to  filling  vacan 
cies, — I  am  willing  to  jo^in  a  provision  to  make  these  matters 
certain. 

2nd.  As  to  your  proposals  that  a  poll  shall  be  opened  in  every 
precinct,  and  that  the  whole  shall  take  place  on  the  same  day,  I 
do  not  personally  object.  They  seem  to  me  to  be  not  unfair;  and  I 
forbear  to  join  in  proposing  them,  only  because  I  choose  to  leave 
the  decision  in  each  county  to  the  Whigs  of  the  county,  to  be 
made  as  their  own  judgment  and  convenience  may  dictate. 

3rd.  As  to  your  proposed  stipulation  that  all  the  candidates 
shall  remain  in  their  own  counties,  and  restrain  their  friends  in 
the  same — it  seems  to  me  that  on  reflection  you  will  see,  the  fact 
of  your  having  been  in  Congress  has,  in  various  ways,  so  spread 
your  name  in  the  District,  as  to  give  you  a  decided  advantage  in 
such  a  stipulation.  I  appreciate  your  desire  to  keep  down  ex 
citement  ;  and  I  promise  you  '  keep  cool '  under  all  circumstances. 

4th.  I  have  already  said  I  am  satisfied  with  the  old  system  under 
which  such  good  men  have  triumphed,  and  that  I  desire  no  de 
parture  from  its  principles.  But  if  there  must  be  a  departure 
from  it,  I  shall  insist  upon  a  more  accurate  and  just  apportionment 
of  delegates,  or  representative  votes,  to  the  constituent  body,  than 
exists  by  the  old;  and  which  you  propose  to  retain  in  your  new 
plan.  If  we  take  the  entire  population  of  the  Counties  as  shown 
by  the  late  census,  we  shall  see  by  the  old  plan,  and  by  your  pro 
posed  new  plan, — 

Morgan  county,  with  a  population  of  16541,  has  but 8  votes 

While  Sangamon  with  18697 — 2156  greater,  has  but 8  votes 

So  Scott  with  6553  has 4  votes 

While  Tazewell  with  7615  has  1062  greater,  has  but 4  votes 

So  Mason  with  3135  has 1  vote 

While  Logan  with  3907,  772  greater,  has  but 1  vote 


292  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

And  so  on  in  a  less  degree  the  matter  runs  through  all  the  coun 
ties,  being  not  only  wrong  in  principle,  but  the  advantage  of  it 
being  all  manifestly  in  your  favor  with  one  slight  exception,  in 
the  comparison  of  two  counties  not  here  mentioned. 

Again,  if  we  take  the  whig  votes  of  the  counties  as  shown  by 
the  late  Presidential  election  as  a  basis,  the  thing  is  still  worse. 
Take  a  comparison  of  the  same  six  counties — 

Morgan  with  her  1443  whig  votes  has 8  votes 

Sangamon  with  her  1837,  394  greater,  only  has 8  votes 

Mason  with  her  255  has 1  vote 

Logan  with  her  310,  55  greater,  has  only 1  vote 

Scott  with  her  670  has 4  votes 

Tazewell  with  her  1011,  341  greater,  has  only 4  votes 

It  seems  to  me  most  obvious  that  the  old  system  needs  adjust 
ment  in  nothing  so  much  as  in  this :  and  still,  by  your  proposal,  no 
notice  is  taken  of  it.  I  have  always  been  in  the  habit  of  acceding 
to  almost  any  proposal  that  a  friend  would  make  and  I  am  truly 
sorry  that  I  cannot  in  this.  I  perhaps  ought  to  mention  that 
some  friends  at  different  places  are  endeavoring  to  secure  the 
honor  of  the  sitting  of  the  convention  at  their  towns  respectively, 
and  I  fear  that  they  would  not  feel  much  complimented  if  we  shall 
make  a  bargain  that  it  should  sit  no  where. 

Yours  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Copied  from  the  Sangamo  ''Journal"  for  Feb.  26,  1846.) 

SPRINGFIELD,  March  1,  1845. 
FRIEND  WILLIAMS: 

The  supreme  court  adjourned  this  morning  for  the  term.  Your 
cases  of  Keinhardt  vs.  Schuyler,  Bunce  vs.  Schuyler,  Dickhut  vs. 
Dunell,  and  Sullivan  vs.  Andrews  are  continued.  Hinman  vs. 
Pope  I  wrote  you  concerning  some  time  ago.  McNutt  et  al.  vs. 
Bean  and  Thompson  is  reversed  and  remanded. 

Fitzpatrick  vs.  Brady  et  al.  is  reversed  and  remanded  with 
leave  to  complainant  to  amend  his  bill  so  as  to  show  the  real 
consideration  given  for  the  land. 

Bunce  against  Graves,  the  court  confirmed,  wherefore,  in  ac 
cordance  with  your  directions,  I  moved  to  have  the  case  remanded 
to  enable  you  to  take  a  new  trial  in  the  court  below.  The  court 
allowed  the  motion ;  of  which  I  am  glad,  and  I  guess  you  are. 

This,  I  believe,  is  all  as  to  court  business.  The  canal  men  have 
got  their  measure  through  the  legislature  pretty  much  or  quite 
in  the  shape  they  desired.  Nothing  else  now.  Yours,  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Mrs.  A.  J.  Morton.  Washington,  D.  G.) 


APPENDIX  293 

Williamson  Durley. 

SPRINGFIELD,  October  3, 1845. 

When  I  saw  you  at  home,  it  was  agreed  that  I  should  write  to 
you  and  your  brother  Madison.  Until  I  then  saw  you  I  was  not 
aware  of  your  being  what  is  generally  called  an  Abolitionist,  or,  as 
you  call  yourself,  a  Liberty  man,  though  I  well  knew  there  were 
many  such  in  your  country. 

I  was  glad  to  hear  that  you  intended  to  attempt  to  bring  about, 
at  the  next  election  in  Putnam,  a  union  of  the  Whigs  proper  and 
such  of  the  Liberty  men  as  are  Whigs  in  principle  on  all  ques 
tions  save  only  that  of  slavery.  So  far  as  I  can  perceive,  by  such 
union  neither  party  need  yield  anything  on  the  point  in  difference 
between  them.  If  the  Whig  abolitionists  of  New  York  had  voted 
with  us  last  fall,  Mr.  Clay  would  now  be  President,  Whig  princi 
ples  in  the  ascendant,  and  Texas  not  annexed;  whereas,  by  the  di 
vision,  ail  that  either  had  at  stake  in  the  contest  was  lost.  And, 
indeed,  it  was  extremely  probable,  beforehand,  that  such  would 
be  the  result.  As  I  always  understood,  the  Liberty  men  depre 
cated  the  annexation  of  Texas  extremely;  and  this  being  so,  why 
they  should  refuse  to  cast  their  votes  (so)  as  to  prevent  it,  even 
to  me  seemed  wonderful.  What  was  their  process  of  reasoning, 
I  can  only  judge  from  what  a  single  one  of  them  told  me.  It  was 
this :  l  We  are  not  to  do  evil  that  good  may  come.'  This  gen 
eral  proposition  is  doubtless  correct;  but  did  it  apply?  If  by 
your  votes  you  could  have  prevented  the  extension,  etc.,  of  slav 
ery  would  it  not  have  been  good,  and  not  evil,  so  to  have  used 
your  votes,  even  though  it  involved  the  casting  of  them  for  a 
slave-holder.  By  the  fruit  the  tree  is  to  be  known.  An  evil  tree 
cannot  bring  forth  good  fruit.  If  the  fruit  of  electing  Mr.  Clay 
would  have  been  to  prevent  the  extension  of  slavery,  could  the  act 
of  electing  have  been  evil  ? 

But  I  will  not  argue  further.  I  perhaps  ought  to  say  that 
individually  I  never  was  much  interested  in  the  Texas  question. 
I  never  could  see  much  good  to  come  of  annexation,  inasmuch  as 
they  were  already  a  free  republican  people  on  our  own  model.  On 
the  other  hand.  I  never  could  very  clearly  see  how  the  annexa 
tion  would  augment  the  evil  of  slavery.  It  always  seemed  to  me 
that  slaves  would  be  taken  there  in  about  equal  numbers,  with  or 
without  annexation.  And  if  more  were  taken  because  of  an 
nexation,  still  there  would  be  just  so  many  the  fewer  left  where 
they  were  taken  from.  It  is  possibly  true,  to  some  extent,  that, 
with  annexation,  some  slaves  may  be  sent  to  Texas  and  continued 
in  slavery  that  otherwise  might  have  been  liberated.  To  whatever 
extent  this  may  be  true,  I  think  annexation  an  evil.  I  hold  it  to 
be  a  paramount  duty  of  us  in  the  free  States,  due  to  the  Union  of 
the  States,  and  perhaps  to  liberty  itself  (paradox  though  it  may 
seem),  to  let  the  slavery  of  the  other  States  alone;  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  I  hold  it  to  be  equally  clear  that  we  should  never 
knowingly  lend  ourselves,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  ^revent  that 


294  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

slavery  from  dying  a  natural  death — to  find  new  places  for  it  to 
live  in,  when  it  can  no  longer  exist  in  the  old.  Of  course  I  am 
not  now  considering  what  would  be  our  duty  in  cases  of  insur 
rection  among  the  slaves.  To  recur  to  the  Texas  question,  I  un 
derstand  the  Liberty  men  to  have  viewed  annexation  as  a  much 
greater  evil  than  ever  I  did;  and  I  would  like  to  convince  you, 
if  I  could,  that  they  could  have  prevented  it,  if  they  had  chosen. 

I  intend  this  letter  for  you  and  Madison  together;  and  if  you 
and  he  or  either  shall  think  fit  to  drop  me  a  line,  I  shall  be  pleased. 

Yours  with  respect, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  C.  W.  Durley,  Princeton,  Illinois.) 

Dr.  Robert  Boal,  Lacon,  HI. 

SPRINGFIELD,  Jany.  7,  1846. 
DEAR  DOCTOR: 

Since  I  saw  you  last  fall,  I  have  often  thought  of  writing  you, 
as  it  was  then  understood  I  would,  but,  on  reflection,  I  have  al 
ways  found  that  I  had  nothing  new  to  tell  you.  All  has  hap 
pened  as  I  then  told  you  I  expected  it  would — Baker's  declining, 
Hardin's  taking  the  track,  and  so  on. 

If  Hardin  and  I  stood  precisely  equal,  if  neither  of  us  had  been 
to  Congress,  or,  if  we  both  had — it  would  not  only  accord  with 
what  I  have  always  done,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  to  give  way  to 
him ;  and  I  expect  I  should  do  it.  That  I  can  voluntarily  postpone 
my  pretentions,  when  they  are  no  more  than  equal  to  those  to 
which  they  are  postponed,  you  have  yourself  seen.  But  to  yield 
to  Hardin  under  present  circumstances,  seems  to  me  as  nothing 
else  than  yielding  to  one  who  would  gladly  sacrifice  me  altogether. 
This,  I  would  rather  not  submit  to.  That  Hardin  is  talented, 
energetic,  usually  generous  and  magnanimous,  I  have,  before 
this,  affirmed  to  you,  and  do  not  now  deny.  You  know  that  my 
only  argument  is  that  "turn  about  is  fair  play."  This  he  prac 
tically  at  least,  denies. 

If  it  would  not  be  taxing  you  too  much,  I  wish  you  would  write 
me,  telling  the  aspect  of  things  in  your  country,  or  rather  your 
district;  and  also,  send  the  names  of  some  of  your  Whig  neigh 
bours,  to  whom  I  might,  with  propriety,  write.  Unless  I  can  get 
some  one  to  do  this,  Hardin,  with  his  old  franking  list,  will  have 
the  advantage  of  me.  My  reliance  for  a  fair  shake  (and  I  want 
nothing  more)  in  your  county  is  chiefly  on  you,  because  of  your 
position  and  standing,  and  because  I  am  acquainted  with  so  few 
others.  Let  me  hear  from  you  soon. 

Yours  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 
(Original  owned  by  Dr.  Robert  Boal,  Lacon,  Illinois.) 


APPENDIX  295 

John  Bennett. 

SPRINGFIELD,  Jany  15, 1846. 
FRIEND  JOHN: 

Nathan  Dresser  is  here,  and  speaks  as  though  the  contest  be 
tween  Hardin  and  me  is  to  be  doubtful  in  Menard  County — I 
know  he  is  candid  and  this  alarms  me  some — I  asked  him  to 
tell  me  the  names  of  the  men  that  were  going  strong  for  Hardin; 
he  said  Morris  was  about  as  strong  as  any — Now  tell  me,  is  Morris 
going  it  openly?  You  remember  you  wrote  me,  that  he  would  be 
neutral.  Nathan  also  said  that  some  man  who  he  could  not  re 
member  had  said  lately  that  Menard  County  was  going  to  de 
cide  the  contest  and  that  that  made  the  contest  very  doubtful. 
Do  you  know  who  that  was?  Don't  fail  to  write  me  instantly  on 
receiving  telling  me  all — particularly  the  names  of  those  who  are 
going  strong  against  me.  Yours  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  E.  K.  Oeltjen,  Petersburg,  111.) 

SPRINGFIELD,  January  21,  1846. 
N.  J.  ROCKWELL  : 

DEAR  SIR:  You  perhaps  know  that  General  Hardin  and  I  have 
a  contest  for  the  Whig  nomination  for  Congress  for  this  district. 
He  has  had  a  turn  and  my  argument  is  "  Turn  about  is  fair  play." 
I  shall  be  pleased  if  this  strikes  you  as  a  sufficient  argument. 

Yours  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

Jaa.  Berdan, 

Jacksonville,  HI. 

SPRINGFIELD,  April  26,  1846. 
JAS.  BERDAN,  ESQR.: 

DEAR  SIR:  I  thank  you  for  the  promptness  with  which  you 
answered  my  letter  from  Bloomington.  I  also  thank  you  for  the 
frankness  with  which  you  comment  upon  a  certain  part  of  my 
letter;  because  that  comment  affords  me  an  opportunity  of  try 
ing  to  express  myself  better  than  I  did  before,  seeing,  as  I  do,  that 
in  that  part  of  my  letter,  you  have  not  understood  me  as  I  intended 
to  be  understood.  In  speaking  of  the  "  dissatisfaction  "  of  men  who 
yet  mean  to  do  no  wrong,  &c.,  I  meant  no  special  application 
of  what  I  said  to  the  Whigs  of  Morgan,  or  of  Morgan  &  Scott. 
I  only  had  in  my  mind  the  fact,  that  previous  to  General  Hardin'a 
withdrawal  some  of  his  friends  and  some  of  mine  had  become  a 
little  warm;  and  I  felt,  and  meant  to  say,  that  for  them  now  to 
meet  face  to  face  and  converse  together  was  the  best  way  to 
efface  any  remnant  of  unpleasant  feeling,  if  any  such  existed. 
I  did  not  suppose  that  General  Hardin's  friends  were  in  any 


296  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

greater  need  of  having  their  feelings  corrected  than  mine  were. 
Since  I  saw  you  at  Jacksonville,  I  have  had  no  more  suspicion  of 
the  Whigs  of  Morgan  than  of  those  of  any  other  part  of  the  Dis 
trict.  I  write  this  only  to  try  to  remove  any  impression  that  I 
distrust  you  and  the  other  Whigs  of  your  country. 

Yours  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Mrs.  Mary  Berdan  Tiffany,  Springfield,  111.) 

James  Eerdan,  Jacksonville,  HI. 

SPRINGFIELD,  May  7th,  1846. 
JAS.  BERDAN,  ESQR.  : 

DEAR  SIR:  It  is  a  matter  of  high  moral  obligation,  if  not  of 
necessity,  for  me  to  attend  the  Coles  and  Edwards  courts.  I  have 
some  cases  in  both  of  them,  in  which  the  parties  have  my  promise, 
and  are  depending  upon  me.  The  court  commences  in  Coles  on 
the  second  Monday,  and  in  Edgar  on  the  third.  Your  court  in 
Morgan  commences  on  the  fourth  Monday ;  and  it  is  my  purpose  to 
be  with  you  then,  and  make  a  speech.  I  mention  the  Coles  and 
Edgar  courts  in  order  that  if  I  should  not  reach  Jacksonville  at 
the  time  named  you  may  understand  the  reason  why.  I  do  not, 
however,  think  there  is  much  danger  of  my  being  detained;  as 
I  shall  go  with  a  purpose  not  to  be,  and  consequently  shall  engage 
in  no  new  cases  that  might  delay  me.  Yours  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  'Mrs.  Mary  Berdan  Tiffany,  Springfield,  111.) 


REPORT    OF    SPEECH   DELIVERED    AT    WORCESTER, 
MASS.,  ON  SEPT.  12, 1848. 

(From  the  Boston  "Advertiser.") 

Mr.  Kellogg  then  introduced  to  the  meeting  the  Hon.  Abram 
Lincoln,  whig  member  of  Congress  from  Illinois,  a  representative 
of  free  soil. 

Mr.  Lincoln  has  a  very  tall  and  thin  figure,  with  an  intellectual 
face,  showing  a  searching  mind,  and  a  cool  judgment.  He  spoke 
in  a  clear  and  cool,  and  very  eloquent  manner,  for  an  hour  and 
a  half,  carrying  the  audience  with  him  in  his  able  arguments  and 
brilliant  illustrations — only  interrupted  by  warm  and  frequent 
applause.  He  began  by  expressing  a  real  feeling  of  modesty  in 
addressing  an  audience  "  this  side  of  the  mountains/'  a  part  of 
the  country  where,  in  the  opinion  of  the  people  of  his  section, 
everybody  was  supposed  to  be  instructed  and  wise.  But  he  had 
devoted  his  attention  to  the  question  of  the  coming  presidential 


APPENDIX  297 

election,  and  was  not  unwilling  to  exchange  with  all  whom  he 
might  the  ideas  to  which  he  had  arrived.  He  then  began  to  show 
the  fallacy  of  some  of  the  arguments  against  Gen.  Taylor,  mak 
ing  his  chief  theme  the  fashionable  statement  of  all  those  who 
oppose  him,  ("the  old  Locofocos  as  well  as  the  new")  that  he 
has  no  principles,  and  that  the  Whig  party  have  abandoned  their 
principles  by  adopting  him  as  their  candidate.  He  maintained 
that  Gen.  Taylor  occupied  a  high  and  unexceptionable  Whig 
ground,  and  took  for  his  first  instance  and  proof  of  this  state 
ment  in  the  Allison  letter — with  regard  to  the  Bank,  Tariff,  Rivera 
and  Harbors,  etc. — that  the  will  of  the  people  should  produce  its 
own  results,  without  Executive  influence.  The  principle  that  the 
people  should  do  what — under  the  constitution — they  please,  is  a 
Whig  principle.  All  that  Gen.  Taylor  is  not  only  to  consent,  but 
to  appeal  to  the  people  to  judge  and  act  for  themselves.  And  this 
was  no  new  doctrine  for  Whigs.  It  was  the  "platform"  on 
which  they  had  fought  all  their  battles,  the  resistance  of  Execu 
tive  influence,  and  the  principle  of  enabling  the  people  to  frame 
the  government  according  to  their  will.  Gen.  Taylor  consents  to 
be  the  candidate,  and  to  assist  the  people  to  do  what  they  think 
to  be  their  duty,  and  think  to  be  best  in  their  natural  affairs,  but 
because  he  dont  want  to  tell  what  we  ought  to  do,  he  is  accused 
of  having  no  principles.  The  Whigs  here  maintained  for  years 
that  neither  the  influence,  the  duress,  or  the  prohibition  of  the 
Executive  should  control  the  legitimately  expressed  will  of  the 
people;  and  now  that  on  that  very  ground,  Gen.  Taylor  says  that 
he  should  use  the  power  given  him  by  the  people  to  do,  to  the 
best  of  his  judgment,  the  will  of  the  people,  he  is  accused  of  want 
of  principle,  and  of  inconsistency  in  position. 

Mr.  Lincoln  proceeded  to  examine  the  absurdity  of  an  attempt 
to  make  a  platform  or  creed  for  a  national  party,  to  all  parts  of 
which  all  must  consent  and  agree,  when  it  was  clearly  the  in 
tention  and  the  true  philosophy  of  our  government,  that  in  Con 
gress  all  opinions  and  principles  should  be  represented,  and  that 
when  the  wisdom  of  all  had  been  compared  and  united,  the  will 
of  the  majority  should  be  carried  out.  On  this  ground  he  con 
ceived  (and  the  audience  seemed  to  go  with  him)  that  Gen. 
Taylor  held  correct,  sound  republican  principles. 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  passed  to  the  subject  of  slavery  in  the  states, 
saying  that  the  people  of  Illinois  agreed  entirely  with  the  people 
of  Massachusetts  on  this  subject,  except  perhaps  that  they  did 
not  keep  so  constantly  thinking  about  it.  All  agreed  that  slav 
ery  was  an  evil,  but  that  we  were  not  responsible  for  it  and  can 
not  affect  it  in  states  of  this  Union  where  we  do  not  live.  But, 
the  question  of  the  extension  of  slavery  to  new  territories  of  this 
country,  is  a  part  of  our  responsibility  and  care,  and  is  under 
our  control.  In  opposition  to  this  Mr.  L.  believed  that  the  self- 
named  "Free  Soil"  party,  was  far  behind  the  Whigs.  Both 
parties  opposed  the  extension.  As  he  understood  it  the  new  party 


2g3  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

had  no  principle  except  this  opposition.  If  their  platform  held 
any  other,  it  was  in  such  a  general  way  that  it  was  like  the  pair 
01  pantaloons  the  Yankee  pedlar  offered  for  sale  "large  enough 
.for  any  man,  small  enough  for  any  boy."  They  therefore  had 
taken  a  position  calculated  to  break  down  their  single  important 
declared  object.  They  were  working  for  the  election  of  either 
Gen.  Cass  or  Gen.  Taylor.  The  speaker  then  went  on  to  show, 
clearly  and  eloquently,  the  danger  of  extension  of  slavery,  likely 
to  result  from  the  election  of  General  Cass.  To  unite  with  those 
who  annexed  the  new  territory  to  prevent  the  extension  of  slav 
ery  in  that  territory  seemed  to  him  to  be  in  the  highest  degree 
absurd  and  ridiculous.  Suppose  these  gentlemen  succeed  in 
electing  Mr.  Van  Buren,  they  had  no  specific  means  to  prevent 
the  extension  of  slavery  to  New  Mexico  and  California,  and  Gen; 
Taylor,  he  confidently  believed,  would  not  encourage  it,  and  would 
not  prohibit  its  restriction.  But  if  Gen.  Cass  was  elected,  he 
felt  certain  that  the  plans  of  farther  extension  of  territory  would 
be  encouraged,  and  those  of  the  extension  of  slavery  would  meet 
no  check.  The  "  Free  Soil "  men  in  claiming  that  name  indi 
rectly  attempts  a  deception,  by  implying  that  Whigs  were  not 
Free  Soil  men.  In  declaring  that  they  would  "  do  their  duty  and 
leave  the  consequences  to  God,"  merely  gave  an  excuse  for  taking 
a  course  they  were  not  able  to  maintain  by  a  fair  and  full  argu 
ment.  To  make  this  declaration  did  not  show  what  their  duty 
was.  If  it  did  we  should  have  no  use  for  judgment,  we  might  as 
well  be  made  without  intellect,  and  when  divine  or  human  law 
does  not  clearly  point  out  what  is  our  duty,  we  have  no  means  of 
finding  out  what  it  is  by  using  our  most  intelligent  judgment  of 
the  consequences.  If  there  were  divine  law,  or  human  law  for 
voting  for  Martin  Van  Buren,  or  if  a  fair  examination  of  the 
consequences  and  first  reasoning  would  show  that  voting  for  him 
would  bring  about  the  ends  they  pretended  to  wish — then  he 
would  give  up  the  argument.  But  since  there  was  no  fixed  law  on 
the  subject,  and  since  the  whole  probable  result  of  their  action 
would  be  an  assistance  in  electing  Gen.  Cass,  he  must  say  that 
they  were  behind  the  Whigs  in  their  advocacy  of  the  freedom 
of  the  soil. 

Mr.  Lincoln  proceeded  to  rally  the  Buffalo  Convention  for  for 
bearing  to  say  anything — after  all  the  previous  declarations  of 
those  members  who  were  formerly  Whigs — on  the  subject  of  the 
Mexican  war,  because  the  Van  Burens  had  been  known  to  have 
supported  it.  He  declared  that  of  all  the  parties  asking  the  confi 
dence  of  the  country,  this  new  one  had  less  of  principle  than  any 
other. 

He  wondered  whether  it  was  still  the  opinion  of  these  Free  Soil 
gentlemen  as  declared  in  the  "  whereas  "  at  Buffalo,  that  the  Whig 
and  Democratic  parties  were  both  entirely  dissolved  and  absorbed 
into  their  own  body.  Had  the  Vermont  election  given  them  any 
light?  They  had  calculated  on  making  as  great  an  impression 
in  that  State  as  in  any  part  of  the  Union,  and  there  their  attempts 


APPENDIX 


299 


had  been  wholly  ineffectual.    Their  failure  there  was  a  greater  suc 
cess  than  they  would  find  in  any  other  part  of  the  Union. 

Mr.  Lincoln  went  on  to  say  that  he  honestly  believed  that  all 
those  who  wished  to  keep  up  the  character  of  the  Union;  who  did 
not  believe  in  enlarging  our  field,  but  in  keeping  our  fences  where 
they  are  and  cultivating  our  present  possessions,  making  it  a 
garden,  improving  the  morals  and  education  of  the  people;  de 
voting  the  administrations  to  this  purpose;  all  real  Whigs,  friends 
of  good  honest  government; — the  race  was  ours.  He  had  oppor 
tunities  of  hearing  from  almost  every  part  of  the  Union  from 
reliable  sources  and  had  not  heard  of  a  country  in  which  we  had 
not  received  accessions  from  other  parties.  If  the  true  Whigs 
come  forward  and  join  these  new  friends,  they  need  not  have  a 
doubt.  We  had  a  candidate  whose  personal  character  and  prin 
ciples  he  had  already  described,  whom  he  could  not  eulogize  if  he 
would.  Gen.  Taylor  had  been  constantly,  perseveringly,  quietly 
standing  up,  doing  his  duty,  and  asking  no  praise  or  reward  for  it. 
He  was  and  must  be  just  the  m°.n  to  whom  the  interests,  princi 
ples  and  prosperity  of  the  country  might  be  safely  intrusted.  He 
had  never  failed  in  anything  he  had  undertaken,  although  many 
of  his  duties  had  been  considered  almost  impossible. 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  went  into  a  terse  though  rapid  review  of  the 
origin  of  the  Mexican  war  and  the  connection  of  the  administra 
tion  and  General  Taylor  with  it,  from  which  he  deduced  a  strong 
appeal  to  the  Whigs  present  to  do  their  duty  in  the  support  of 
General  Taylor,  and  closed  with  the  warmest  aspirations  for  and 
confidence  in  a  deserved  success. 

At  the  close  of  this  truly  masterly  and  convincing  speech,  the 
audience  gave  three  enthusiastic  cheers  for   Illinois,   and  three 
more  for  the  eloquent  Whig  member  from  that  State. 
J.  Gillespie. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  May  19,  1849. 
DEAR  GILLESPIE: 

Butterfield  will  be  Commissioner  of  the  Gen'l  Land  Office,  un 
less  prevented  by  strong  and  speedy  efforts.  Ewing  is  for  him, 
and  he  is  only  not  appointed  yet  because  Old  Zach.  hangs  fire. 
I  have  reliable  information  of  this.  Now,  if  you  agree  with  me 
that  his  appointment  would  dissatisfy  rather  than  gratify  the 
Whigs  of  this  State,  that  it  would  slacken  their  energies  in  future 
contests,  that  his  appointment  in  '41  is  an  old  sore  with  them 
which  they  will  not  patiently  have  reopened, — in  a  word  that 
his  appointment  now  would  be  a  fatal  blunder  to  the  administra 
tion  and  our  political  men,  here  in  Illinois,  write  Mr.  Crittenden  to 
that  effect.  He  can  control  the  matter.  Were  you  to  write  Ewing 
I  fear  the  President  would  never  hear  of  your  letter.  This  may 
be  mere  suspicion.  You  might  directly  to  Old  Zach.  You  will 
be  the  best  judge  of  the  propriety  of  that.  Not  a  moment's  time 
is  to  be  lost. 


300  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

Let  this  confidential  except  with  Mr.  Edwards  and  a  few  othera 
whom  you  know  I  would  trust  just  as  I  do  you. 

Yours  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Mrs.  Josephine  G.  Prickett,  Edwardsville, 

Secretary  of  Interior,  Washington,  D.  C. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  June  3, 1849. 
HON.  SECRETARY  OF  INTERIOR, 

DEAR  SIR:  Vandalia,  the  Receiver's  office  at  which  place  is  the 
subject  of  the  within,  is  not  in  my  district;  and  I  have  been  much 
perplexed  to  express  any  preference  between  Dr.  Stapp  and  Mr. 
Remann.  If  any  one  man  is  better  qualified  for  such  an  office 
than  all  others,  Dr.  Stapp  is  that  man;  still,  I  believe  a  large 
majority  of  the  Whigs  of  the  District  prefer  Mr.  Remann,  who 
also  is  a  good  man.  Perhaps  the  papers  on  file  will  enable  you 
to  judge  better  than  I  can.  The  writers  of  the  within  are  good 
men,  residing  within  the  Land  District. 

Your  obt.  servant, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  C.  F.  Gunther,  Chicago,  111.) 

J.  Gillespie. 

SPRINGFIELD,  July  13,  1849. 
DEAR  GILLESPIE: 

Mr.  Edwards  is  unquestionably  offended  with  me  in  connec 
tion  with  the  matter  of  the  General  Land  Office.  He  wrote  a 
letter  against  me  which  was  filed  at  the  Department. 

The  better  part  of  one's  life  consists  of  his  friendships;  and,  of 
them,  mine  with  Mr.  Edwards  was  one  of  the  most  cherished. 
I  have  not  been  false  to  it.  At  a  word  I  could  have  had  the  office 
any  time  before  the  Department  was  •committed  to  Mr.  Butter- 
field, — at  least  Mr.  Ewing  and  the  President  say  as  much.  That 
word  I  forbore  to  speak,  partly  for  other  reasons,  but  chiefly  for 
Mr.  Edwards'  sake, — losing  the  office  that  he  might  gain  it,  I 
was  always  for;  but  to  lose  his  friendship,  by  the  effort  for  him, 
would  oppress  me  very  much,  were  I  not  sustained  by  the  utmost 
consciousness  of  rectitude.  I  first  determined  to  be  an  applicant, 
unconditionally,  on  the  2nd  of  June;  and  I  did  so  then  upon 
being  informed  by  a  Telegraphic  despatch  that  the  question  was 
narrowed  down  to  Mr.  B —  and  myself,  and  that  the  Cabinet  had 
postponed  the  appointment,  three  weeks,  for  my  benefit.  Not 
doubting  that  Mr.  Edwards  was  wholly  out  of  the  question  I, 
nevertheless,  would  not  then  have  become  an  applicant  had  I 
supposed  he  would  thereby  be  brought  to  suspect  me  of  treachery 


APPENDIX 


301 


to  iiim.  Two  or  three  days  afterwards  a  conversation  with  Levi 
Davis  convinced  me  Mr.  Edwards  was  dissatisfied;  but  I  was 
then  too  far  in  to  get  out.  His  own  letter,  written  on  the  25th 
of  April,  after  I  had  fully  informed  him  of  all  that  had  passed, 
up  to  within  a  few  days  of  that  time,  gave  assurance  I  had  that 
entire  confidence  from  him,  which  I  felt  my  uniform  and  strong 
friendship  for  him  entitled  me  to.  Among  other  things  it  says 
"  whatever  course  your  judgment  may  dictate  as  proper  to  be 
pursued,  shall  never  be  excepted  to  by  me."  I  also  had  had  a 
letter  from  Washington,  saying  Chambers,  of  the  Republic,  had 
brought  a  rumor  then,  that  Mr.  E —  had  declined  in  my  favor, 
which  rumor  I  judged  came  from  Mr.  E —  himself,  as  I  had  not 
then  breathed  of  his  letter  to  any  living  creature.  In  saying  I 
had  never,  before  the  22nd  of  June,  determined  to  be  an  appli 
cant,  unconditionally,  I  mean  to  admit  that,  before  then,  I  had 
said  substantially  I  would  take  the  office  rather  than  it  should 
be  lost  to  the  State,  or  given  to  one  in  the  State  whom  the  Whigs 
did  not  want ;  but  I  aver  that  in  every  instance  in  which  I  spoke  of 
myself,  I  intended  to  keep,  and  now  believe  I  did  keep,  Mr.  E — 
above  myself.  Mr.  Edwards'  first  suspicion  was  that  I  had  allowed 
Baker  to  overreach  me,  as  his  friend,  in  behalf  of  Don  Morrison. 
I  knew  this  was  a  mistake;  and  the  result  has  proved  it.  I  un 
derstand  his  view  now  is,  that  if  I  had  gone  to  open  war  with 
Baker  I  could  have  ridden  him  down,  and  had  the  thing  all  my 
own  way.  I  believe  no  such  thing.  With  Baker  and  some  strong 
man  from  the  Military  tract,  &  elsewhere  for  Morrison;  and  we 
and  some  strong  man  from  the  Wabash  &  elsewhere  for  Mr.  E — , 
it  was  not  possible  for  either  to  succeed.  I  believed  this  in  March, 
and  I  know  it  now.  The  only  thing  which  gave  either  any  chance 
was  the  very  thing  Baker  &  I  proposed, — an  adjustment  with  them 
selves. 

You  may  wish  to  know  how  Butterfield  finally  beat  me.  I  can 
not  tell  you  particulars,  now,  but  will,  when  I  see  you.  In  the 
meantime  let  it  be  understood  I  am  not  greatly  dissatisfied, —  I 
wish  the  offer  had  been  so  bestowed  as  to  encourage  our  friends 
in  future  contests,  and  I  regret  exceedingly  Mr.  Edwards'  feel 
ings  towards  me.  These  two  things  away,  I  should  have  no  re 
grets, —  at  least  I  think  I  would  not. 

Write  me  soon. 

Your  friend,  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Mrs.  Josephine  G.  Prickett,  Edwards ville, 

m.) 

SPRINGFIELD,  Sept.  14,  1849. 

DR.  WILLIAM  FITHIAN,  Danville,  111. 

DEAR  DOCTOR:  Your  letter  of  the  9th  was  received  a  day  or 
two  ago.  The  notes  and  mortgages  you  enclosed  me  were  duly 


302  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

received.  I  also  got  the  original  Blanchard  mortgage  from  An 
trim  Campbell,  with  whom  Blanchard  had  left  it  for  you.  I  got 
a  decree  of  foreclosure  on  the  whole;  but  owing  to  there  being  no 
redemption  on  the  sale  to  be  under  the  Blanchard  mortgage,  the 
court  allowed  Mobley  till  the  first  of  March  to  pay  the  money, 
before  advertising  for  sale.  Stuart  was  empowered  by  Mobley 
to  appear  for  him,  and  I  had  to  take  such  decree  as  he  would  con 
sent  to,  or  none  at  all.  I  cast  the  matter  about  in  my  mind  and 
concluded  that  as  I  could  not  get  a  decree  now  would  put  the 
accrued  interest  at  interest,  and  thereby  more  than  match  the 
fact  of  throwing  the  Blanchard  debt  back  from  12  to  6  per  cent.,  it 
was  better  to  do  it.  This  is  the  present  state  of  the  case. 

I  can  well  enough  understand  and  appreciate  your  suggestions 
about  the  Land  Office  at  Danville;  but  in  my  present  condition, 
I  can  do  nothing. 

Yours,  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Dr.  P.  H.  Fithian,  Springfield,  111.) 

SPRINGFIELD,  Jan.  11,  1851. 
C.  HOYT,  ESQ. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Our  case  is  decided  against  us.  The  decision  was 
announced  this  morning.  Very  sorry,  but  there  is  no  help.  The 
history  of  the  case  since  it  came  here  is  this —  On  Friday  morn 
ing  last,  Mr.  Joy  filed  his  papers,  and  entered  his  motion  for  a 
mandamus,  and  urged  me  to  take  up  the  motion  as  soon  as  pos 
sible.  I  already  had  the  points,  and  authorities  sent  me,  by  you 
and  by  Mr.  Goodrich  but  had  not  studied  them —  I  began  prepar 
ing  as  fast  as  possible. 

The  evening  of  the  same  day  I  was  again  urged  to  take  up  the 
case.  I  refused  on  the  ground  that  I  was  not  ready,  and  on  which 
plea  I  also  got  off  over  Saturday.  But  on  Monday  (the  14th)  I  had 
to  go  into  it.  We  occupied  the  whole  day,  I  using  the  large  part.  I 
made  every  point  and  used  every  authority  sent  me  by  yourself 
and  by  Mr.  Goodrich;  and  in  addition  all  the  points  I  could  think 
of  and  all  the  authorities  I  could  find  myself.  When  I  closed  the 
argument  on  my  part,  a  large  package  was  handed  me,  which 
proved  to  be  the  Plat  you  sent  me.  The  court  received  it  of  me, 
but  it  was  not  different  from  the  Plat  already  on  the  record.  I 
do  not  think  I  could  ever  have  argued  the  case  better  than  I  did. 
I  did  nothing  else,  but  prepare  to  argue  and  argue  this  case,  from 
Friday  morning  till  Monday  evening.  Very  sorry  for  the  result; 
but  I  do  not  think  it  could  have  been  prevented. 

Your  friend  as  ever, 

A.   LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  family  of  Mr.  Ned  Ames  Higgins,  Wash 
ington,  D.  C.) 


APPENDIX  303 

Nov.  4,  1851. 
DEAR  MOTHER: 

Chapman  tells  me  he  wants  you  to  go  and  live  with  him.  If  I 
were  you  I  would  try  it  awhile.  If  you  get  tired  of  it  (as  I  think 
you  will  not)  you  can  return  to  your  own  home.  Chapman  feels 
very  kindly  to  you;  and  I  have  no  doubt  he  will  make  your  situa 
tion  very  pleasant.  Sincerely  your  son, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(From  Herndon's  "  Life  of  Lincoln.") 

Addressed  John  D.  Johnston,  Charleston,  Coles  County,  Illinois. 

SPRINGFIELD,  November  25,  1851. 
JOHN  D.  JOHNSTON: 

DEAR  BROTHER:  Your  letter  of  the  22d  is  just  received — Your 
proposal  about  selling  the  East  forty  acres  of  land  is  all  that  I  want 
or  could  claim  for  myself;  but  I  am  not  satisfied  with  it  on 
Mother  s  account — I  want  her  to  have  her  living,  and  I  feel  that 
it  is  my  duty,  to  some  extent,  to  see  that  she  is  not  wronged — She 
had  a  right  of  Dower  (that  is,  the  use  of  one-third  for  life)  in 
the  other  two  forties;  but,  it  seems,  she  has  already  let  you  take 
that,  hook  and  line — She  now  has  the  use  of  the  whole  of  the  East 
forty,  as  long  as  she  lives ;  and  if  it  be  sold,  of  course  she  is  entitled 
to  the  interest  on  all  the  money  it  brings,  as  long  as  she  lives ;  but 
you  propose  to  sell  it  for  three  hundred  dollars,  take  one  hundred 
away  with  you,  and  leave  her  two  hundred  at  8  per  cent,  making 
her  the  enormous  sum  of  16  dollars  a  year — Now,  if  you  are 
satisfied  with  treating  her  in  that  way,  I  am  not — It  is  true, 
that  you  are  to  have  that  forty  for  two  hundred  dollars,  at  Mother's 
death;  but  you  are  not  to  have  it  before.  I  am  confident  that 
land  can  be  made  to  produce  for  Mother  at  least  $30  a  year,  and  I 
can  not,  to  oblige  any  living  person,  consent  that  she  shall  be  put 
on  an  allowance  of  sixteen  dollars  a  year — 

Yours,  et«., 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Mr.  William  H.  Lambert,  Philadelphia,  Pa.) 

The  superscription  of  the  letter  is  as  here  printed — but  the  cap 
tion  omits  the  town  and  state. 

|  PEKIN,  May  12,  1853. 

MR.  JOSHUA  K.  STANFORD: 

SIR  : — I  hope  the  subject-matter  of  this  letter  will  appear  a  suffi 
cient  apology  to  you  for  the  liberty  I,  a  total  stranger,  take  in 
addressing  you.  The  persons  here  holding  two  lots  under  a  con 
veyance  made  by  you,  as  the  attorney  of  Daniel  M.  Baily,  now 
nearly  twenty-two  years  ago,  are  in  great  danger  of  losing  the  lots, 
and  very  much,  perhaps  all,  is  to  depend  on  the  testimony  you  give 


304  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

as  to  whether  you  did  or  did  not  account  to  Baily  for  the  proceeds 
received  by  you  on  this  sale  of  the  lots.  I,  therefore,  as  one  of  the 
counsel,  beg  of  you.  to  fully  refresh  your  recollection  by  any  means 
in  your  power  before  the  time  you  may  be  called  on  to  testify.  If 
persons  should  come  about  you,  and  show  a  disposition  to  pump 
you  on  the  subject,  it  may  be  no  more  than  prudent  to  remember 
that  it  may  be  possible  they  design  to  misrepresent  you  and  em 
barrass  the  real  testimony  you  may  ultimately  give.  It  may  be  six 
months  or  a  year  before  you  are  called  on  to  testify. 

Respectfully, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Homer  Stanford,  of  Alton,  HI.) 


(Confidential.) 

SPRINGFIELD,  Sept.  7,  1854. 
HON.  J.  M.  PALMER: 

DEAR  SIR:  You  know  how  anxious  I  am  that  this  Nebraska 
measure  shall  be  rebuked  and  condemned  everywhere —  Of  course 
I  hope  something  from  your  position;  yet  I  do  not  expect  you  to 
do  any  thing  which  may  be  wrong  in  your  own  judgment;  nor 
would  I  have  you  do  anything  personally  injurious  to  yourself — 
You  are,  and  always  have  been,  honestly,  and  sincerely,  a  demo 
crat;  and  I  know  how  painful  it  must  be  to  an  honest  sincere 
man,  to  be  urged  by  his  party  to  the  support  of  a  measure,  which 
in  his  conscience  he  believes  to  be  wrong —  You  have  had  a  se 
vere  struggle  with  yourself,  and  you  have  determined  not  to  swal 
low  the  wrong — Is  it  not  just  to  yourself  that  you  should,  in  a 
few  public  speeches,  state  your  reasons,  and  thus  justify  yourself? 
I  wish  you  would ;  and  yet  I  say  "  don't  do  it,  if  you  think  it  will 
injure  you  " —  You  may  have  given  your  word  to  vote  for  Major 
Harris;  and  if  so,  of  course  you  will  stick  to  it —  But  allow  me 
to  suggest  that  you  should  avoid  speaking  of  this;  for  it  probably 
would  induce  some  of  your  friends,  in  like  manner,  to  cast  their 
votes —  You  understand —  And  now  let  me  beg  your  pardon 
for  obtruding  this  letter  upon  you,  to  whom  I  have  ever  been 
opposed  in  politics —  Had  your  party  omitted  to  make  Nebraska 
a  test  of  party  fidelity;  you  probably  would  have  been  the  Demo 
cratic  candidate  for  congress  in  the  district — You  deserved  it, 
and  I  believe  it  would  have  been  given  you —  In  that  case  I 
should  have  been  quite  happy  that  Nebraska  was  to  be  rebuked 
at  all  events —  I  still  should  have  voted  for  the  whig  candidate; 
but  I  should  have  made  no  speeches,  written  no  letters;  and  you 
would  have  been  elected  by  at  least  a  thousand  majority — 

Yours  truly, 

A..   LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Mr.  William  H.  Lambert,  Philadelphia,  Pa.) 


APPENDIX  305 

CLINTON,  DE  WITT  Co.,  Nov.  10,  1854. 
MR.  CHARLES  HOYT. 

DEAR  SIR:  You  used  to  express  a  good  deal  of  partiality  for 
me,  and  if  you  are  still  so,  now  is  the  time.  Some  friends  here 
are  really  for  me,  for  the  U.  S.  Senate,  and  I  should  be  very 
grateful  if  you  could  make  a  mark  for  me  among  your  members. 
Please  write  me  at  all  events  giving  me  the  names  post-offices, 
and  "  political  position  "  of  members  round  about  you.  Direct  to 
Springfield. 

Let  this  be  confidential.  Yours  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Mrs.  C.  L.  Hoyt  of  Aurora,  111.) 

(Copy) 

SPRINGFIELD,  Dec.  1,  1854. 
J.  GILLESPIE,  ESQ.  : 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  have  really  got  it  into  my  head  to  try  to  be 
United  States  Senator,  and,  if  I  could  have  your  support,  my 
chances  would  be  reasonably  good.  But  I  know,  and  acknowledge, 
that  you  have  as  just  claims  to  the  place  as  I  have;  and  therefore 
I  cannot  ask  you  to  yield  to  me,  if  you  are  thinking  of  becoming  a 
candidate,  yourself.  If,  however,  you  are  not,  then  I  should  like 
to  be  remembered  affectionately  by  you;  and  also  to  have  you 
make  a  mark  for  me  with  the  Anti-Nebraska  members,  down  your 
way. 

If  you  know,  and  have  no  objection  to  tell,  let  me  know  whether 
Trumbull  intends  to  make  a  push.  If  he  does,  I  suppose  the  two 
men  in  St.  Clair,  and  one,  or  both,  in  Madison,  will  be  for  him. 
We  have  the  legislature,  clearly  enough,  on  joint  ballot,  but  the 
Senate  is  very  close,  and  Cullom  told  me  to-day  that  the  Nebraska 
men  will  stave  off  the  election,  if  they  can.  Even  if  we  get  into 
joint  vote,  we  shall  have  difficulty  to  unite  our  forces.  Please  write 
me,  and  let  this  be  confidential.  Your  friend,  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Mrs.  Josephine  Gillespie  Prickett  of  Ed 
wards  ville,  111.) 


Sanford,  Porter  &  Striker,  New  York  City. 

SPRINGFIELD,  March  10th,  1855. 
MESSRS.  SANFORD,  PORTER  AND  STRIKER,  New  York. 

GENTLEMEN:    Yours  of  the  5th  is  received,  as  also  was  that  of 
15th  Dec.  last,  inclosing  bond  of  Clift  to  Pray.    When  I  received 
(20) 


3o6  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

the  bond  I  was  dabbling  in  politics,  and  of  course  neglecting  busi 
ness.    Having  since  been  beaten  out  I  have  gone  to  work  again. 

As  I  do  not  practice  in  Rushville  I  today  open  a  correspondence 
with  Henry  E.  Dummer,  Esq.  of  Beardstown,  Ills.,  with  the  view 
of  getting  the  job  into  his  hands.  He  is  a  good  man  if  he  will  un 
dertake  it.  Write  me  whether  I  shall  do  this  or  return  the  bond 
to  you. 

Very  respectfully, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  the  Skaneateles  Library,  Skaneateles,  N.  Y.) 

Dec.  13,  1855. 

DEAR  SIR:  You  will  confer  a  favor  on  me,  if  you  will  send  me 
the  Congressional  "  Globe "  during  the  present  session.  Please 
have  it  directed  to  me. 

I  will  pay  for  the  same  when  you  visit  your  family. 

Yours  respectfully, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  formerly  owned  by  Col.  Thomas  Donaldson.  Loaned 
by  Stan.  V.  Henkels  of  PhiladeVhia,  Pa.) 

REPORT  MADE  BY  WILLIAM  C.  WHITNEY  OF  THE 
SPEECH  DELIVERED  BY  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  BE 
FORE  THE  FIRST  REPUBLICAN  STATE  CONVEN 
TION  OF  ILLINOIS  HELD  AT  BLOOMINGTON  ON 

MAY  29,  1856. 

(Mr.  Whitney's  notes  were  made  at  the  time  but  not  written  out 
until  1896.  He  does  not  claim  that  the  speech,  as  here  reported,  is 
literally  correct — only  that  he  has  followed  the  argument,  and  that 
in  many  cases  the  sentences  are  as  Mr.  Lincoln  spoke  them.)'3*' 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen:  I  was  over  at  [cries  of  "Plat 
form!"  "  Take  the  platform!  "]—  I  say,  that  while  I  was  at  Dan 
ville  Court,  some  of  our  friends  of  anti-Nebraska  got  together  in 
Springfield  and  elected  me  as  one  delegate  to  represent  old  Sanga- 
mon  with  them  in  this  convention,  and  I  am  here  certainly  as  a 
sympathizer  in  this  movement  and  by  virtue  of  that  meeting  and 
selection.  But  we  can  hardly  be  called  delegates  strictly,  inas 
much  as,  properly  speaking,  we  represent  nobody  but  ourselves.  I 
think  it  altogether  fair  to  say  that  we  have  no  anti-Nebraska  party 
in  Sangamcn,  although  there  is  a  good  deal  of  anti-Nebraska 
feeling  there ;  but  I  say  for  myself,  and  I  think  I  may  speak  also  for 
my  colle<i<rues,  that  we  who  are  here  fully  approve  of  the  platform 
and  of  all  that  has  been  done  [a  voice;  "Yes!"];  and  even  if 
we  are  not  regularly  delegates,  it  will  be  right  for  me  to  answer 
your  call  to  speak.  I  suppose  we  truly  stand  for  the  public  senti' 

'  "Copyright,  1896,  by  Sarah  A.  Wiutoey. 


APPENDIX  307 

merit  of  Sangamon  on  the  great  question  of  the  repeal,  although 
we  do  not  yet  represent  many  numbers  who  have  taken  a  distinct 
position  on  the  question. 

We  are  in  a  trying  time — it  ranges  above  mere  party — and  this 
movement  to  call  a  halt  and  turn  our  steps  backward  needs  all 
the  help  and  good  counsels  it  can  get;  for  unless  popular  opinion 
makes  itself  very  strongly  felt,  and  a  change  is  made  in  our  pres 
ent  course,  blood  will  flow  on  account  of  Nebraska,  and  brother's 
hand  will  be  raised  against  brother!  [The  last  sentence  was  ut 
tered  in  such  an  earnest,  impressive,  if  not,  indeed,  tragic,  man 
ner,  as  to  make  a  cold  chill  creep  over  me.  Others  gave  a  similar 
experience.] 

I  have  listened  with  great  interest  to  the  earnest  appeal  made 
to  Illinois  men  by  the  gentleman  from  Lawrence  [James  S.  Emery] 
who  has  just  addressed  us  so  eloquently  and  forcibly.  I  was  deeply 
moved  by  his  statement  of  the  wrongs  done  to  free-State  men  out 
there.  I  think  it  just  to  say  that  all  true  men  North  should  sym 
pathize  with  them,  and  ought  to  be  willing  to  do  any  possible  and 
needful  thing  to  right  their  wrongs.  But  we  must  not  promise 
what  we  ought  not,  lest  we  be  called  on  to  perform  what  we  can 
not;  we  must  be  calm  and  moderate,  and  consider  the  whole  diffi 
culty,  and  determine  what  is  possible  and  just.  We  must  not  be 
led  by  excitement  and  passion  to  do  that  which  our  sober  judgments 
would  not  approve  in  our  cooler  moments.  We  have  higher  aims; 
we  will  have  more  serious  business  than  to  dally  with  temporary 
measures. 

We  are  here  to  stand  firmly  for  a  principle — to  stand  firmly  for 
a  right.  We  know  that  great  political  and  moral  wrongs  are  done, 
and  outrages  committed,  and  we  denounce  those  wrongs  and  out 
rages,  although  we  cannot,  at  present,  do  much  more.  But  we 
desire  to  reach  out  beyond  those  personal  outrages  and  establish 
a  rule  that  will  apply  to  all,  and  so  prevent  any  future  outrages. 

We  have  seen  to-day  that  every  shade  of  popular  opinion  is 
represented  here,  with  Freedom  or  rather  Free-Soil  as  the  basis. 
We  have  come  together  as  in  some  sort  representatives  of  popular 
opinion  against  the  extension  of  slavery  into  territory  now  free 
in  fact  as  well  as  by  law,  and  the  pledged  word  of  the  statesmen 
of  the  nation  who  are  now  no  more.  We  come — we  are  here  as 
sembled  together — to  protest  as  well  as  we  can  against  a  great 
wrong,  and  to  take  measures,  as  well  as  we  now  can,  to  make  that 
wrong  right;  to  place  the  nation,  as  far  as  it  may  be  possible  now, 
as  it  was  before  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise;  and  the 
plain  way  to  do  this  is  to  restore  the  Compromise,  and  to  demand 
and  determine  that  Kansas  shall  be  free!  [Immense  applause.] 
While  we  affirm,  and  reaffirm,  if  necessary,  our  devotion  to  the 
principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  let  our  practical 
work  here  be  limited  to  the  above.  We  know  that  there  is  not  a 
perfect  agreement  of  sentiment  here  on  the  public  questions  which 
might  be  rightfully  considered  in  this  convention,  and  that  the 


308  ,  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

indignation  which  we  all  must  feel  cannot  be  helped;  out  all  of 
MB  must  give  up  something  for  the  good  of  the  cause.  There  is 
one  desire  which  is  uppermost  in  the  mind,  one  wish  common  to 
us  all — to  which  no  dissent  will  be  made;  and  I  counsel  you  ear 
nestly  to  bury  all  resentment,  to  sink  all  personal  feeling,  make  all 
things  work  to  a  common  purpose  in  which  we  are  united  and 
agreed  about,  and  which  all  present  will  agree  is  absolutely  neces 
sary — which  must  be  done  by  any  rightful  mode  if  there  be  such: 
Slavery  must  l>e  kept  out  of  Kansas!  [Applause.]  The  test — 
the  pinch —  is  right  there.  If  we  lose  Kansas  to  freedom,  an  ex 
ample  will  be  set  which  will  prove  fatal  to  freedom  in  the  end. 
We,  therefore,  in  the  language  of  the  Bible,  must  "  lay  the  axe  to 
the  root  of  the  tree."  Temporizing  will  not  do  longer;  now  is  the 
time  for  decision — for  firm,  persistent,  resolute  action.  [Ap 
plause.] 

The  Nebraska  bill,  or  rather  Nebraska  law,  is  not  one  of  whole 
some  legislation,  but  was  and  is  an  act  of  legislative  usurpation, 
whose  result,  if  not  indeed  intention,  is  to  make  slavery  national; 
and  unless  headed  off  in  some  effective  way,  we  are  in  a  fair  way  to 
see  this  land  of  boasted  freedom  converted  into  a  land  of  slavery 
in  fact.  [Sensation.]  Just  open  your  two  eyes,  and  see  if  this  be 
not  so.  I  need  do.  no  more  than  state,  to  command  universal  ap 
proval,  that  almost  the  entire  North,  as  well  as  a  large  following 
in  the  border  States,  is  radically  opposed  to  the  planting  of  slav 
ery  in  free  territory.  Probably  in  a  popular  vote  throughout  the 
nation  nine-tenths  of  the  voters  in  the  free  States,  and  at  least 
one-half  in  the  border  States,  if  they  could  express  their  senti 
ments  freely,  would  vote  NO  on  such  an  issue ;  and  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  two-thirds  of  the  votes  of  the  entire  nation  would  be  opposed 
to  it.  And  yet,  in  spite  of  this  overbalancing  of  sentiment  in  this 
free  country,  we  are  in  a  fair  way  to  see  Kansas  present  itself  for 
admission  as  a  slave  State.  Indeed,  it  is  a  felony,  by  the  local 
law  of  Kansas,  to  deny  that  slavery  exists  there  even  now.  By 
every  principle  of  law,  a  negro  in  Kansas  is  free;  yet  the  bogus 
legislature  makes  it  an  infamous  crime  to  tell  him  that  he  is  free !  * 

The  party  lash  and  the  fear  of  ridicule  will  overawe  justice  and 
liberty;  for  it  is  a  singular  fact,  but  none  the  less  a  fact,  and  well 
known  by  the  most  common  experience,  that  men  will  do  things 
under  the  terror  of  the  party  lash  that  they  would  not  on  any  ac 
count  or  for  any  consideration  do  otherwise;  while  men  who  will 
march  up  to  the  mouth  of  a  loaded  cannon  without  shrinking, 
will  run  from  the  terrible  name  of  "  Abolitionist,"  even  when  pro- 

*  Statutes  of  Kansas,  1855,  Chapter  151,  Sec.  12.  If  any  free  person,  by  speaking 
or  by  writing,  assert  or  maintain  that  persons  have  not  the  right  to  hold  slaves  in 
this  Territory,  or  shall  introduce  into  this  Territory,  print,  publish,  write,  circu 
late  .  .  .  any  book,  paper,  magazine,  pamphlet,  or  circular  containing  any  de 
nial  of  the  right  of  persons  to  hold  slaves  in  this  Territory,  such  person  shall  be 
deemed  guilty  of  felony,  and  punished  by  imprisonment  at  hard  labor  for  a  term  of 
not  less  than  two  years. 

Sec.  13.  No  person  who  is  conscientiously  opposed  to  holding  slaves,  or  who  does 
not  admit  the  right  to  hold  slaves  in  this  Territory,  shall  sit  as  a  juror  on  the  trial 
of  any  prosecution  for  any  violation  of  any  Sections  of  this  A"* 


APPENDIX  309 

nounced  by  a  worthless  creature  whom  they,  with  good  reason, 
despise.  For  instance — to  press  this  point  a  little — Judge  Douglas 
introduced  his  anti-Nebraska  bill  in  January;  and  we  had  an  extra 
session  of  our  legislature  in  the  succeeding  February,  in  which  were 
seventy-five  Democrats;  and  at  a  party  caucus,  fully  attended, 
there  were  just  three  votes  out  of  the  whole  seventy-five,  for  the 
measure.  But  in  a  few  days  orders  came  on  from  Washington, 
commanding  them  to  approve  the  measure;  the  party  lash  was 
applied,  and  it  was  brought  up  again  in  caucus,  and  passed  by  a 
large  majority.  The  masses  were  against  it,  but  party  necessity 
carried  it;  and  it  was  passed  through  the  lower  house  of  Congress 
against  the  will  of  the  people,  for  the  same  reason.  Here  is  where 
the  greatest  danger  lies — that,  while  we  profess  to  be  a  government 
of  law  and  reason,  law  will  give  way  to  violence  on  demand  of  this 
awful  and  crushing  power.  Like  the  great  Juggernaut — I  think 
that  is  the  name — the  great  idol,  it  crushes  everything  that  comes 
in  its  way,  and  makes  a — or  as  I  read  once,  in  a  blackletter  law 
book,  "  a  slave  is  a  human  being  who  is  legally  not  a  person  but  a 
thing/'  And  if  the  safeguards  to  liberty  are  broken  down,  as  is 
now  attempted,  when  they  have  made  things  of  all  the  free  negroes, 
how  long,  think  you,  before  they  will  begin  to  make  things  of  poor 
white  men  ?  [Applause.]  Be  not  deceived.  Revolutions  do  not  go 
backward.  The  founder  of  the  Democratic  party  declared  that 
all  men  were  created  equal.  His  successor  in  the  leadership  has 
written  the  word  "  white  "  before  men,  making  it  read  "  all  white 
men  are  created  equal."  Pray,  will  or  may  not  the  Know-nothings, 
if  they  should  get  in  power,  add  the  word  "  protestant,"  making 
it  read  "  all  protestant  white  men"? 

Meanwhile  the  hapless  negro  is  the  fruitful  subject  of  reprisals 
in  other  quarters.  John  Pettit,  whom  Tom  Benton  paid  his  re 
spects  to,  you  will  recollect,  calls  the  immortal  Declaration  "  a 
self-evident  lie ;  "  while  at  the  birthplace  of  freedom — in  the  shadow 
of  Bunker  Hill  and  of  the  "  cradle  of  liberty,"  at  the  home  of  the 
Adamses  and  Warren  and  Otis — Choate,  from  our  side  of  the 
house,  dares  to  fritter  away  the  birthday  promise  of  liberty  by  pro 
claiming  the  Declaration  to  be  "  a  string  of  glittering  generali 
ties  ;  "  and  the  Southern  Whigs,  working  hand  in  hand  with  pro- 
slavery  Democrats,  are  making  Choate's  theories  practical. 
Thomas  Jefferson,  a  slaveholder,  mindful  of  the  moral  element  in 
slavery,  solemnly  declared  that  he  "  trembled  for  his  country 
when  he  remembered  that  God  is  just;  "  while  Judge  Douglas,  with 
an  insignificant  wave  of  the  hand,  "  don't  care  whether  slavery  is 
voted  up  or  voted  down."  Now,  if  slavery  is  right,  or  even  nega 
tive,  he  has  a  right  to  treat  it  in  this  trifling  manner.  But  if  it 
is  a  moral  and  political  wrong,  as  all  Christendom  considers  it 
to  be,  how  can  he  answer  to  God  for  this  attempt  to  spread  and 
fortify  it  ?  [Applause.] 

But  no  man,  and  Judge  Douglas  no  more  than  any  other,  can 
maintain  a  negative,  or  merely  neutral,  position  on  this  question; 


510  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

and,  accordingly,  lie  avows  that  the  Union  was  made  by  white 
men  and  for  white  men  and  their  descendants.  As  matter  of  fact, 
the  first  branch  of  the  proposition  is  historically  true;  the  gov 
ernment  was  made  by  white  men,  and  they  were  and  are  the  su 
perior  race.  This  I  admit.  But  the  corner-stone  of  the  govern 
ment,  so  to  speak,  was  the  declaration  that  "  all  men  are  created 
equal,"  and  all  entitled  to  "  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  hap 
piness."  [Applause.] 

And  not  only  so,  but  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  were  par 
ticular  to  keep  out  of  that  instrument  the  word  "  slave,"  the 
reason  being  that  slavery  would  ultimately  come  to  an  end,  and 
they  did  not  wish  to  have  any  reminder  that  in  this  free  country 
human  beings  were  ever  prostituted  to  slavery.  [Applause.]  Nor 
is  it  any  argument  that  we  are  superior  and  the  negro  inferior — 
that  he  has  but  one  talent  while  we  have  ten.  Let  the  negro  pos 
sess  the  little  he  has  in  independence;  if  he  has  but  one  talent, 
he  should  be  permitted  to  keep  the  little  he  has.  [Applause.] 
But  slavery  will  endure  no  test  of  reason  or  logic;  and  yet  its  ad 
vocates,  like  Douglas,  use  a  sort  of  bastard  logic,  or  noisy  assump 
tion,  it  might  better  be  termed,  like  the  above,  in  order  to  prepare 
the  mind  for  the  gradual,  but  none  the  less  certain,  encroachments 
of  the  Moloch  of  slavery  upon  the  fair  domain  of  freedom.  But 
however  much  you  may  argue  upon  it,  or  smother  it  in  soft  phrase, 
slavery  can  only  be  maintained  by  force — by  violence.  The  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  by  violence.  It  was  a  violation 
of  both  law  and  the  sacred  obligations  of  honor,  to  overthrow  and 
trample  underfoot  a  solemn  compromise,  obtained  by  the  fearful 
loss  to  freedom  of  one  of  the  fairest  of  our  Western  domains. 
Congress  violated  the  will  and  confidence  of  its  constituents  in 
voting  for  the  bill;  and  while  public  sentiment,  as  shown  by  the 
elections  of  1854,  demanded  the  restoration  of  this  compromise, 
Congress  violated  its  trust  by  refusing,  simply  because  it  had  the 
force  of  numbers  to  hold  on  to  it.  And  murderous  violence  is 
being  used  now,  in  order  to  force  slavery  on  to  Kansas;  for  it 
cannot  be  done  in  any  other  way.  [Sensation.] 

The  necessary  result  was  to  establish  the  rule  of  violence — force, 
instead  of  the  rule  of  law  and  reason;  to  perpetuate  and  spread 
slavery,  and,  in  time,  to  make  it  general.  We  see  it  at  both  ends  of 
the  line.  In  Washington  on  the  very  spot  where  the  outrage  was 
started,  the  fearless  Sumner  is  beaten  to  insensibility,  and  is  now 
slowly  dying ;  while  senators  who  claim  to  be  gentlemen  and  Chris 
tians  stood  by,  countenancing  the  act,  and  even  applauding  it 
afterward  in  their  places  in  the  Senate.  Even  Douglas,  our  man, 
saw  it  all  and  was  within  helping  distance,  yet  let  the  murderous 
blows  fall  unopposed.  Then,  at  the  other  end  of  the  line,  at  the 
very  time  Sumner  was  being  murdered,  Lawrence  was  being  de 
stroyed  for  the  crime  of  Freedom.  It  was  the  most  prominent 
stronghold  of  liberty  in  Kansas,  and  must  give  way  to  the  all- 
dominating  power  of  slavery.  Only  two  days  ago,  Judge  Trum- 


APPENDIX 

bull  found  it  necessary  to^  propose  a  bill  in  the  Senate  to  prevent 
a  general  civil  war  and  to  restore  peace  in  Kansas. 

We  live  in  the  midst  of  alarms ;  anxiety  beclouds  the  future ;  we 
expect  some  new  disaster  with  each  newspaper  we  read.  Are  we 
in  a  healthful  political  state?  Are  not  the  tendencies  plain?  Do 
not  the  signs  of  the  times  point  plainly  the  way  in  which  we  are 
going?  [Sensation.] 

In  the  early  days  of  the  Constitution  slavery  was  recognized, 
by  South  and  North  alike,  as  an  evil,  and  the  division  of  senti 
ment  about  it  was  not  controlled  by  geographical  lines  or  consid 
erations  of  climate,  but  by  moral  and  philanthropic  views.  Peti 
tions  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  were  presented  to  the  very  first 
Congress  by  Virginia  and  Massachusetts  alike.  To  show  the  har 
mony  which  prevailed,  I  will  state  that  a  fugitive  slave  law  was 
passed  in  1793,  with  no  dissenting  voice  in  the  Senate,  arid  but 
seven  dissenting  votes  in  the  House.  It  was,  however,  a  wise  law, 
moderate,  and,  under  the  Constitution,  a  just  one.  Twenty-five 
years  later,  a  more  stringent  law  was  proposed  and  defeated;  and 
thirty-five  years  after  that,  the  present  law,  drafted  by  Mason 
of  Virginia,  was  passed  by  Northern  votes.  I  am  not,  just  now, 
complaining  of  this  law,  but  I  am  trying  to  show  how  the  current 
sets;  for  the  proposed  law  of  1817  was  far  less  offensive  than  the 
present  one.  In  1774  the  Continental  Congress  pledged  itself, 
without  a  dissenting  vote,  to  wholly  discontinue  the  slave  trade, 
and  to  neither  purchase  nor  import  any  slave;  and  less  than  three 
months  before  the  passage  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
the  same  Congress  which  adopted  that  declaration  unanimously 
resolved  "  that  no  slave  ~be  imported  into  any  of  the  thirteen 
United  Colonies."  [Great  applause.] 

On  the  second  day  of  July,  1776,  the  draft  of  a  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  reported  to  Congress  by  the  committee,  and 
in  it  the  slave  trade  was  characterized  as  "  an  execrable  commerce," 
as  "a  piratical  warfare,"  as  the  "opprobrium  of  infidel  powers," 
and  as  "  a  cruel  war  against  human  nature."  [Applause.]  All 
agreed  on  this  except  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  in  order  to 
preserve  harmony,  and  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  these  ex 
pressions  were  omitted.  Indeed,  abolition  societies  existed  as  far 
south  as  Virginia;  and  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  Washington, 
Jefferson,  Madison,  Lee,  Henry,  Mason,  and  Pendleton  were  quali 
fied  abolitionists,  and  much  more  radical  on  that  subject  than  we 
of  the  Whig  and  Democratic  parties  claim  to  be  to-day.  On 
March  1,  1784,  Virginia  ceded  to  the  confederation  all  its  lands 
lying  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River.  Jefferson,  Chase  of  Mary 
land,  and  Howell  of  Rhode  Island,  as  a  committee  on  that  and 
territory  thereafter  to  be  ceded,  reported  that  no  slavery  should 
exist  after  the  year  1800.  Had  this  report  been  adopted,  not  only 
the  Northwest,  but  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  and  Missis 
sippi  also  would  have  been  free;  but  it  required  the  assent  of 
nine  States  to  ratify  it.  North  Carolina  was  divided,  and  thus 


3i2  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

its  vote  was  lost;  and  Delaware,  Georgia,  and  New  Jersey  refused 
to  vote.  In  point  of  fact,  as  it  was,  it  was  assented  to  by  six 
States.  Three  years  later,  on  a  square  vote  to  exclude 
slavery  from  the  Northwest,  only  one  vote,  and  that  from 
New  York,  was  against  it.  And  yet,  thirty-seven  years 
later,  five  thousand  citizens  of  Illinois  out  of  a  voting  mass  of  less 
than  twelve  thousand,  deliberately,  after  a  long  and  heated  con 
test,  voted  to  introduce  slavery  in  Illinois;  and,  to-day,  a  large 
party  in  the  free  State  of  Illinois  are  willing  to  vote  to  fasten  the 
shackles  of  slavery  on  the  fair  domain  of  Kansas,  notwithstanding 
it  received  the  dowry  of  freedom  long  before  its  birth  as  a  political 
community.  I  repeat,  therefore,  the  question:  Is  it  not  plain  in 
what  direction  we  are  tending?  [Sensation.]  In  the  colonial 
time,  Mason,  Pendleton,  and  Jefferson  were  as  hostile  to  slavery 
in  Virginia  as  Otis,  Ames,  and  the  Adamses  were  in  Massachusetts ; 
and  Virginia  made  as  earnest  an  effort  to  get  rid  of  it  as  old  Massa 
chusetts  did.  But  circumstances  were  against  them  and  they  failed; 
but  not  that  the  good  will  of  its  leading  men  was  lacking.  Yet  within 
less  than  fifty  years  Virginia  changed  its  tune,  and  made  negro- 
breeding  for  the  cotton  and  sugar  States  one  of  its  leading  indus 
tries.  [Laughter  and  applause.] 

In  the  Constitutional  Convention,  George  Mason  of  Virginia 
made  a  more  violent  abolition  speech  than  my  friends  Lovejoy  or 
Codding  would  desire  to  make  here  to-day — a  speech  which  could 
not  be  safely  repeated  anywhere  on  Southern  soil  in  this  enlight 
ened  year.  But  while  there  were  some  differences  of  opinion  on 
this  subject  even  then,  discussion  was  allowed;  but  as  you  see  by 
the  Kansas  slave  code,  which,  as  you  know,  is  the  Missouri  slave 
code,  merely  ferried  across  the  river,  it  is  a  felony  to  even  express 
an  opinion  hostile  to  that  foul  blot  in  the  land  of  Washington  and 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  [Sensation.] 

In  Kentucky — my  State — in  1849,  on  a  test  vote,  the  mighty 
influence  of  Henry  Clay  and  many  other  good  men  there  could  not 
get  a  symptom  of  expression  in  favor  of  gradual  emancipation 
on  a  plain  issue  of  marching  toward  the  light  of  civilization  with 
Ohio  and  Illinois;  but  the  State  of  Boone  and  Hardin  and  Henry 
Clay,  with  a  nigger  under  each  arm,  took  the  black  trail  toward 
the  deadly  swamps  of  barbarism.  Is  there — can  there  be — any 
doubt  about  this  thing?  And  is  there  any  doubt  that  we  must 
all  lay  aside  our  prejudices  and  march,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  in 
the  great  army  of  Freedom?  [Applause.] 

Every  Fourth  of  July  our  young  orators  all  proclaim  this  to  be 
"  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave ! "  Well,  now, 
when  you  orators  get  that  off  next  year,  and,  may  be,  this  very 
year,  how  would  you  like  some  old  grizzled  farmer  to  get  up  in 
the  grove  and  deny  it?  [Laughter.]  How  would  you  like  that? 
But  suppose  Kansas  comes  in  as  a  slave  State,  and  all  the  "  border 
ruffians  "  have  barbecues  about  it,  and  free-State  men  come  trail 
ing  back  to  the  dishonored  North,  like  whipped  dogs  with  their 


APPENDIX 


313 


tails  between  their  legs,  it  is — ain't  it? — evident  that  this  is  no 
more  the  "  land  cf  the  free ; "  and  if  we  let  it  go  so,  we  won't  dare 
to  say  "  home  of  the  brave  "  out  loud.  [Sensation  and  confusion.] 

Can  any  man  doubt  that,  even  in  spite  of  the  people's  will,  slav 
ery  will  triumph  through  violence,  unless  that  will  be  made  mani 
fest  and  enforced?  Even  Governor  Reeder  claimed  at  the  outset 
that  the  contest  in  Kansas  was  to  be  fair,  but  he  got  his  eyes  open 
at  last;  and  I  believe  that,  as  a  result  of  this  moral  and  physical 
violence,  Kansas  will  soon  apply  for  admission  as  a  slave  State. 
And  yet  we  can't  mistake  that  the  people  don't  want  it  so,  and 
that  it  is  a  land  which  is  free  both  by  natural  and  political  law. 
No  law,  is  free  law!  Such  is  the  understanding  of  all  Christendom. 
In  the  Somerset  case,  decided  nearly  a  century  ago,  the  great  Lord 
Mansfield  held  that  slavery  was  of  such  a  nature  that  it  must  take 
its  rise  in  positive  (as  distinguished  from  natural)  law;  and  that 
in  no  country  or  age  could  it  be  traced  back  to  any  other  source. 
Will  some  one  please  tell  me  where  is  the  positive  law  that  estab 
lishes  slavery  in  Kansas  ?  [A  voice :  "  The  bogus  laws."]  Aye, 
the  bogus  laws!  And,  on  the  same  principle,  a  gang  of  Missouri 
horse-thieves  could  come  into  Illinois  and  declare  horse-stealing 
to  be  legal  [Laughter],  and  it  would  be  just  as  legal  as  slavery 
is  in  Kansas.  But  by  express  statute,  in  the  land  of  Washington 
and  Jefferson,  we  may  soon  be  brought  face  to  face  with  the  dis 
creditable  fact  of  showing  to  the  world  by  our  acts  that  we  prefer 
slavery  to  freedom — darkness  to  light !  [Sensation.] 

It  is,  I  believe,  a  principle  in  law  that  when  one  party  to  a 
contract  violates  it  so  grossly  as  to  chiefly  destroy  the  object  for 
which  it  is  made,  the  other  party  may  rescind  it.  I  will  ask 
Browning  if  that  ain't  good  law.  [Voices :  "  Yes !  "]  Well,  now 
if  that  be  right,  I  go  for  rescinding  the  whole,  entire  Missouri 
Compromise  and  thus  turning  Missouri  into  a  free  State;  and  I 
should  like  to  know  the  difference — should  like  for  any  one  to 
point  out  the  difference — between  our  making  a  free  State  of 
Missouri  and  their  making  a  slave  State  of  Kansas.  [Great  ap 
plause.]  There  ain't  one  bit  of  difference,  except  that  our  way 
would  be  a  great  mercy  to  humanity.  But  I  have  never  said — 
and  the  Whig  party  has  never  said — and  those  who  oppose  the 
Nebraska  bill  do  not  as  a  body  say,  that  they  have  any  intention 
of  interfering  with  slavery  in  the  slave  States.  Our  platform  says 
just  the  contrary.  We  allow  slavery  to  exist  in  the  slave  States, — 
not  because  slavery  is  right  or  good,  but  from  the  necessities  of 
our  Union.  We  grant  a  fugitive  slave  law  because  it  is  so  "  nom 
inated  in  the  bond ;  "  because  our  fathers  so  stipulated — had  to — 
and  we  are  bound  to  carry  out  this  agreement.  But  they  did  not 
agree  to  introduce  slavery  in  regions  where  it  did  not  previously 
exist.  On  the  contrary,  they  said  by  their  example  and  teachings 
that  they  did  not  deem  it  expedient — did  not  consider  it  right — 
to  do  so;  and  it  is  wise  and  right  to  do  just  as  they  did  about  it 
f Voices:  "  Good!  "],  and  that  is  wha.t  we  propose — not  to  interfere 


314  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

with  slavery  where  it  exists  (we  have  never  tried  to  do  it),  and 
to  give  them  a  reasonable  and  efficient  fugitive  slave  law.  [A 
voice  :  "No!"]  I  say  YES  !  [Applause.]  It  was  part  of  the 
bargain,  and  I'm  for  living  up  to  it ;  but  I  go  no  further ;  I'm  not 
bound  to  do  more,  and  I  won't  agree  any  further.  [Great  ap 
plause.] 

We,  here  in  Illinois,  should  feel  especially  proud  of  the  pro 
vision  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  excluding  slavery  from  what 
is  now  Kansas;  for  an  Illinois  man,  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  was  its 
father.  Henry  Clay,  who  is  credited  with  the  authorship  of  the 
Compromise  in  general  terms,  did  not  even  vote  for  that  pro 
vision,  but  only  advocated  the  ultimate  admission  by  a  second 
compromise;  and  Thomas  was,  beyond  all  controversy,  the  real 
author  of  the  "  slavery  restriction "  branch  of  the  Compromise. 
To  show  the  generosity  of  the  Northern  members  toward  the  South 
ern  side:  on  a  test  vote  to  exclude  slavery  from  Missouri,  ninety 
voted  not  to  exclude,  and  eighty-seven  to  exclude,  every  vote  from 
the  slave  States  boing  ranged  with  the  former  and  fourteen  votes 
from  the  free  States,  of  whom  seven  were  from  New  England 
alone;  while  on  a  vote  to  exclude  slavery  from  what  is  now  Kan 
sas,  the  vote  was  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  for,  to  forty-two 
against.  The  scheme,  as  a  whole,  was,  of  course,  a  Southern 
triumph.  It  is  idle  to  contend  otherwise,  as  is  now  being  done 
by  the  Nebraskites;  it  was  so  shown  by  the  votes  and  quite  as  em 
phatically  by  the  expressions  of  representative  men.  Mr.  Lowndes 
of  South  Carolina  was  never  known  to  commit  a  political  mistake; 
his  was  the  great  judgment  of  that  section;  and  he  declared  that 
this  measure  "would  restore  tranquillity  to  the  country — a  result 
demanded  by  every  consideration  of  discretion,  of  moderation,  of 
wisdom,  and  of  virtue."  When  the  measure  came  before  Presi 
dent  Monroe  for  his  approval,  he  put  to  each  member  of  his  cabi 
net  this  question:  "Has  Congress  the  constitutional  power  to 
prohibit  slavery  in  a  territory  ? "  And  John  C.  Calhoun  and  Wil 
liam  H.  Crawford  from  the  South,  equally  with  John  Quincy 
Adams,  Benjamin  Rush,  and  Smith  Thompson  from  the  North, 
alike  answered,  "Yes!"  without  qualification  or  equivocation; 
and  this  measure,  of  so  great  consequence  to  the  South,  was  passed ; 
and  Missouri  was,  by  means  of  it,  finally  enabled  to  knock  at  the 
door  of  the  Republic  for  an  open  passage  to  its  brood  of  slaves. 
And,  in  spite  of  this,  Freedom's  share  is  about  to  be  taken  by  vio 
lence — by  the  force  of  misrepresentative  votes,  not  called  for  by 
the  popular  will.  What  name  can  I,  in  common,  decency,  give  to 
this  wicked  transaction?  [Sensation.] 

But  even  then  the  contest  was  not  over;  for  when  the  Missouri 
constitution  came  before  Congress  for  its  approval,  it  forbade  any 
free  negro  or  mulatto  from  entering  the  State.  In  short,  our  Illi 
nois  "  black  laws  "  were  hidden  away  in  their  constitution  [laugh 
ter],  and  the  controversy  was  thus  revived.  Then  it  was  that  Mr. 
Clay's  talents  shone  out  conspicuously,  and  tJi  controversy  that 


APPENDIX  3J5 

shook  the  Union  to  its  foundation  was  finally  settled  to  the  satis 
faction  of  the  conservative  parties  on  both  sides  of  the  line,  though 
not  to  the  extremists  on  either,  and  Missouri  was  admitted  by  the 
small  majority  of  six  in  the  lower  House.  How  great  a  majority, 
do  you  think,  would  have  been  given  had  Kansas  also  been  secured 
for  slavery?  [A  voice:  "A  majority  the  other  way."]  "A  ma 
jority  the  other  way,"  is  answered.  Do  you  think  it  would  have 
been  safe  for  a  Northern  man  to  have  confronted  his  constituents 
after  having  voted  to  consign  both  Missouri  and  Kansas  to  hope 
less  slavery?  And  yet  this  man  Douglas,  who  misrepresents  his 
constituents  and  who  has  exerted  his  highest  talents  in  that  di 
rection,  will  be  carried  in  triumph  through  the  State  and  hailed 
with  honor  while  applauding  that  act.  [Three  groans  for  "  Dug! "] 
And  this  shows  whither  we  are  tending.  This  thing  of  slavery  is 
more  powerful  than  its  supporters — even  than  the  high  priests  that 
minister  at  its  altar.  It  debauches  even  our  greatest  men.  It 
gathers  strength,  like  a  rolling  snow-ball,  by  its  own  infamy.  Mon 
strous  crimes  are  committed  in  its  name  by  persons  collectively 
which  they  would  not  dare  to  commit  as  individuals.  Its  aggres 
sions  and  encroachments  almost  surpass  belief.  In  a  despotism, 
one  might  not  wonder  to  see  slavery  advance  steadily  and  remorse 
lessly  into  new  dominions;  but  is  it  not  wonderful,  is  it  not  even 
alarming,  to  see  its  steady  advance  in  a  land  dedicated  to  the 
proposition  that  "all  men  are  created  equal?"  [Sensation.] 

It  yields  nothing  itself;  it  keeps  all  it  has,  and  gets  all  it  can 
besides.  It  really  came  dangerously  near  securing  Illinois  in 
1824;  it  did  get  Missouri  in  1821.  The  first  proposition  was  to 
admit  what  is  now  Arkansas  and  Missouri  as  one  slave  State. 
But  the  territory  was  divided  and  Arkansas  came  in,  without  se 
rious  question,  as  a  slave  State;  and  aiterwards  Missouri,  not  as 
a  sort  of  equality,  free,  but  also  as  a  slave  State.  Then  we  had 
Florida  and  Texas;  and  now  Kansas  is  about  to  be  forced  into  the 
dismal  procession.  [Sensation.]  And  so  it  is  wherever  you  look. 
We  have  not  forgotten — it  is  but  six  years  since — how  dangerously 
near  California  came  to  being  a  slave  State.  Texas  is  a  slave 
State,  and  four  other  slave  States  may  be  carved  from  its  vast 
domain.  And  yet,  in  the  year  1829,  slavery  was  abolished  through 
out  that  vast  region  by  a  royal  decree  of  the  then  sovereign  of 
Mexico.  Will  you  please  tell  me  by  what  right  slavery  exists  in 
Texas  to-day?  By  the  same  right  as,  and  no  higher  or  greater 
than,  slavery  is  seeking  dominion  in  Kansas:  by  political  force — 
peaceful,  if  that  will  suffice;  by  the  torch  (as  in  Kansas)  and  the 
bludgeon  (as  in  the  Senate  chamber),  if  required.  And  so  his 
tory  repeats  itself;  and  even  as  slavery  has  kept  its  course  by 
craft,  intimidation,  and  violence  in  the  past,  so  it  will  persist, 
in  my  judgment,  until  met  and  dominated  by  the  will  of  a  people 
bent  on  its  restriction. 

We  have,  this  very  afternoon,  heard  bitter  denunciations  of 
Brooks  in  Washington,  and  Titus,  Stringfellow,  Atchison,  Jones, 


316  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

and  Shannon  in  Kansas — the  battle-ground  of  slavery.  I  cer« 
tainly  am  not  going  to  advocate  or  shield  them;  but  they  and 
their  acts  are  but  the  necessary  outcome  of  the  Nebraska  law. 
We  should  reserve  our  highest  censure  for  the  authors  of  the 
mischief,  and  not  for  the  catspaws  which  they  use.  I  believe  it 
was  Shakespeare  who  said,  "  Where  the  offence  lies,  there  let  the 
axe  fall ;  "  and,  in  my  opinion,  this  man  Douglas  and  the  Northern 
men  in  Congress  who  advocate  "  Nebraska "  are  more  guilty 
than  a  thousand  Joneses  and  Stringfellows,  with  all  their  mur 
derous  practices,  can  be.  [Applause.] 

We  have  made  a  good  beginning  here  to-day.  As  our  Methodist 
friends  would  say,  "  I  feel  it  is  good  to  be  here."  While  extrem 
ists  may  find  some  fault  with  the  moderation  of  our  platform, 
they  should  recollect  that  "  the  battle  is  not  always  to  the  strong, 
nor  the  race  to  the  swift."  In  grave  emergencies,  moderation  is 
generally  safer  than  radicalism;  and  as  this  struggle  is  likely  to  be 
long  and  earnest,  we  must  not,  by  our  action,  repel  any  who  are 
in  sympathy  with  us  in  the  main,  but  rather  win  all  that  we  can 
to  our  standard.  We  must  not  belittle  nor  overlook  the  facts  of 
our  condition — that  we  are  new  and  comparatively  weak,  while 
our  enemies  are  entrenched  and  relatively  strong.  They  have 
the  administration  and  the  political  power;  and,  right  or  wrong, 
at  present  they  have  the  numbers.  Our  friends  who  urge  an  ap 
peal  to  arms  with  so  much  force  and  eloquence,  should  recollect 
that  the  government  is  arrayed  against  us,  and  that  the  num 
bers  are  now  arrayed  against  us  as  well;  or,  to  state  it 
nearer  to  the  truth,  they  are  not  yet  expressly  and  affirmatively 
for  us;  and  we  should  repel  friends  rather  than  gain  them  by 
anything  savoring  of  revolutionary  methods.  As  it  now  stands, 
we  must  appeal  to  the  sober  sense  and  patriotism  of  the  people. 
We  will  make  converts  day  by  day;  we  will  grow  strong  by  calm 
ness  and  moderation;  we  will  grow  strong  by  the  violence  and 
injustice  of  our  adversaries.  And,  unless  truth  be  a  mockery  and 
justice  a  hollow  lie,  we  will  be  in  the  majority  after  a  while,  and 
then  the  revolution  which  we  will  accomplish  will  be  none  the 
less  radical  from  being  the  result  of  pacific  measures.  The 
battle  of  freedom  is  to  be  fought  out  on  principle.  Slavery  is 
a  violation  of  the  eternal  right.  We  have  temporized  with  it  from 
the  necessities  of  our  condition;  but  as  sure  as  God  reigns  and 
school  children  read,  THAT  BLACK  FOUL  LIE  CAN  NEVER  BE  CONSE 
CRATED  INTO  GOD'S  HALLOWED  TRUTH!  [Immense  applause  lasting 
some  time.]  One  of  our  greatest  difficulties  is,  that  men  who 
know  that  slavery  is  a  detestable  crime  and  ruinous  to  the  nation, 
are  compelled,  by  our  peculiar  condition  and  other  circumstances, 
to  advocate  it  concretely,  though  damning  it  in  the  raw.  Henry 
Clay  was  a  brilliant  example  of  this  tendency ;  others  of  our  purest 
statesmen  are  compelled  to  do  so;  and  thus  slavery  secures  actual 
support  from  those  who  detest  it  at  heart.  Yet  Henry  Clay  per 
fected  and  forced  through  the  Compromise  which  secured  to 


APPENDIX  317 

slavery  a  great  State  as  well  as  a  political  advantage.  Not  that 
he  hated  slavery  less,  but  that  he  loved  the  whole  Union  more. 
As  long  as  slavery  profited  by  his  great  Compromise,  the  hosts  of 
pro-slavery  could  not  sufficiently  cover  him  with  praise;  but  now 
that  this  Compromise  stands  in  their  way — 

"...    they  never  mention  him, 
His  name  is  never  heard : 
Their  lips  are  now  forbid  to  speak 
That  once  familiar  word." 

They  have  slaughtered  one  of  his  most  cherished  measures,  and 
his  ghost  would  arise  to  rebuke  them.  [Great  applause.] 

Now,  let  us  harmonize,  my  friends,  and  appeal  to  the  moderation 
and  patriotism  of  the  people:  to  the  sober  second  thought;  to  the 
awakened  public  conscience.  The  repeal  of  the  sacred  Missouri 
Compromise  has  installed  the  weapons  of  violence:  the  bludgeon, 
the  incendiary  torch,  the  death-dealing  rifle,  the  bristling  cannon— 
the  weapons  of  kingcralt,  of  the  inquisition,  of  ignorance,  of  bar 
barism,  of  oppression.  We  see  its  fruits  in  the  dying  bed  of  the 
heroic  Sumner;  in  the  ruins  of  the  "Free  State"  hotel;  in  the 
smoking  embers  of  the  "Herald  of  Freedom;"  in  the  free-State 
Governor  of  Kansas  chained  to  a  stake  on  freedom's  soil  like  a 
horse-thief,  for  the  crime  of  freedom.  [Applause.]  We  see  it  in 
Christian  statesmen,  and  Christian  newspapers,  and  Christian 
pulpits  applauding  the  cowardly  act  of  a  low  ~bully,  WHO  CRAWLED 

UPON    HIS    VICTIM    BEHIND    HIS    BACK    AND    DEALT    THE    DEADLY    BLOW. 

[Sensation  and  applause.]  We  note  our  political  demoralization 
in  the  catch-words  that  are  coming  into  such  common  use;  on  the 
one  hand,  "  f reedom-shriekers,"  and  sometimes  "  f  reedom-screech- 
ers  "  [Laughter]  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  "  border  ruffians,"  and 
that  fully  deserved.  And  the  significance  of  catch-words  cannot 
pass  unheeded,  for  they  constitute  a  sign  of  the  times.  Every 
thing  in  this  world  "  jibes  "  in  with  everything  else,  and  all  the 
fruits  of  this  Nebraska  bill  are  like  the  poisoned  source  from 
which  they  come.  I  will  not  say  that  we  may  not  sooner  or  later 
be  compelled  to  meet  force  by  force;  but  the  time  has  not  yet 
come,  and  if  we  are  true  to  ourselves,  may  never  come.  Do  not 
mistake  that  the  ballot  is  stronger  than  the  bullet.  Therefore  let 
the  legions  of  slavery  use  bullets;  but  let  us  wait  patiently  till 
November  and  fire  ballots  at  them  in  return ;  and  by  that  peaceful 
policy,  I  believe  we  shall  ultimately  win.  [Applause.] 

It  was  by  that  policy  that  here  in  Illinois  the  early  fathers 
fought  the  good  fight  and  gained  the  victory.  In  1824  the  free 
men  of  our  State,  led  by  Governor  Coles  (who  was  a  native  of 
Maryland  and  President  Madison's  private  secretary),  deter 
mined  that  those  beautiful  groves  should  never  reecho  the  dirge 
of  one  who  has  no  title  to  himself.  By  their  resolute  determina 
tion,  the  winds  that  sweep  across  our  broad  prairies  shall  never  cool 
the  parched  ^row,  nor  shall  the  unfettered  streams  that  bring  joy 


3i8  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

and  gladness  to  our  free  soil  water  the  tired  feet,  of  a  slave;  but 
so  long  as  those  heavenly  breezes  and  sparkling  streams  bless  the 
land,  or  the  groves  and  their  fragrance  or  memory  remain,  the 
humanity  to  which  they  minister  SHALL  BE  FOREVER  FREE!  [Great 
applause.]  Palmer,  Yates,  Williams,  Browning,  and  some  more 
in  this  convention  came  from  Kentucky  to  Illinois  (instead  of 
going  to  Missouri),  not  only  to  better  their  conditions,  but  also 
to  get  away  from  slavery.  They  have  said  so  to  me,  and  it  is  under 
stood  among  us  Kentuckians  that  we  don't  like  it  one  bit.  Now, 
can  we,  mindful  of  the  blessings  of  liberty  which  the  early  men 
of  Illinois  left  to  us,  refuse  a  like  privilege  to  the  free  men  who 
seek  to  plant  Freedom's  banner  on  our  Western  outposts  ?  ["  No  1 
No !  "]  Should  we  not  stand  by  our  neighbors  who  seek  to  better 
their  conditions  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska  ?  ["  Yes !  "  "  Yes !  "] 
Can  we  as  Christian  men,  and  strong  and  free  ourselves,  wield  the 
sledge  or  hold  the  iron  which  is  to  manacle  anew  an  already  op 
pressed  race?  ["No!  No!"]  "Woe  unto  them,"  it  is  written, 
"  that  decree  unrighteous  decrees  and  that  write  grievousiiess 
which  they  have  prescribed."  Can  we  afford  to  sin  any  more  deeply 
against  human  liberty  ?  ["  No !  No !  "] 

One  great  trouble  in  the  matter  is,  that  slavery  is  an  insidious 
and  crafty  power,  and  gains  equally  by  open  violence  of  the 
brutal  as  well  as  by  sly  management  of  the  peaceful.  Even  after 
the  ordinance  of  1787,  the  settlers  in  Indiana  and  Illinois  (it  was 
all  one  government  then)  tried  to  get  Congress  to  allow  slavery 
temporarily,  and  petitions  to  that  end  were  sent  from  Kaskaskia, 
and  General  Harrison,  the  Governor,  urged  it  from  Vincennes, 
the  capital.  If  that  had  succeeded,  good-by  to  liberty  here.  But 
John  Randolph  of  Virginia  made  a  vigorous  report  against  it; 
and  although  they  persevered  so  well  as  to  get  three  favorable 
reports  for  it,  yet  the  United  States  Senate,  with  the  aid  of  some 
slave  States,  finally  squelched  it  for  good.  [Applause.]  And 
that  is  why  this  hall  is  to-day  a  temple  for  free  men  instead  of  a 
negro  livery  stable.  [Great  applause  and  laughter.]  Once  let 
slavery  get  planted  in  a  locality,  by  ever  so  weak  or  doubtful  a 
title,  and  in  ever  so  small  numbers,  and  it  is  like  the  Canada  thistle 
or  Bermuda  grass — you  can't  root  it  out.  You  yourself  may 
detest  slavery;  but  your  neighbor  has  five  or  six  slaves,  and 
he  is  an  excellent  neighbor,  or  your  son  has  married  his  daughter, 
and  they  beg  you  to  help  save  their  property,  and  you  vote  against 
your  interest  and  principles  to  accommodate  a  neighbor,  hoping 
that  your  vote  will  be  on  the  losing  side.  And  others  do  the 
same;  and  in  those  ways  slavery  gets  a  sure  foothold.  And  when 
that  is  done  the  whole  mighty  Union — the  force  of  the  nation — 
is  committed  to  its  support.  And  that  very  process  is  working 
in  Kansas  to-day.  And  you  must  recollect  that  the  slave  property 
is  worth  a  billion  of  dollars  ($1,000,000,000)  ;  while  free-State  men 
must  work  for  sentiment  alone.  Then  there  are  "  blue  lodges  " — 
as  they  call  them — everywhere  doing  their  secret  and  deadly  work. 


APPENDIX  319 

It  is  a  very  strange  thing,  and  not  solvable  by  any  moral  law 
that  I  know  of,  that  if  a  man  loses  his  horse,  the  whole  country  will 
turn  out  to  help  hang  the  thief;  but  if  a  man  but  a  shade  or  two 
darker  than  I  am  is  himself  stolen,  the  same  crowd  will  hang  one 
who  aids  in  restoring  him  to  liberty.  Such  are  the  inconsisten 
cies  of  slavery,  where  a  horse  is  more  sacred  than  a  man;  and  the 
essence  of  squatter  or  popular  sovereignty — I  don't  care  how  you 
call  it — is  that  if  one  man  chooses  to  make  a  slave  of  another, 
no  third  man  shall  be  allowed  to  object.  And  if  you  can  do  this 
in  free  Kansas,  and  it  is  allowed  to  stand,  the  next  thing  you 
will  see  is  ship  loads  of  negroes  from  Africa  at  the  wharf  at 
Charleston;  for  one  thing  is  as  truly  lawful  as  the  other;  and 
these  are  the  bastard  notions  we  have  got  to  stamp  out,  else  they 
will  stamp  us  out.  [Sensation  and  applause.] 

Two  years  ago,  at  Springfield,  Judge  Douglas  avowed  that  Illi 
nois  came  into  the  Union  as  a  slave  State,  and  that  slavery  waa 
weeded  out  by  the  operation  of  his  great,  patent,  everlasting  prin 
ciple  of  "popular  sovereignty."  [Laughter.]  Well,  now,  that 
argument  must  be  answered,  for  it  has  a  little  grain  of  truth  at 
the  bottom.  I  do  not  mean  that  it  is  true  in  essence,  as  he  would 
have  us  believe.  It  could  not  be  essentially  true  if  the  ordinance 
of  '87  was  valid.  But,  in  point  of  fact,  there  were  some  degraded 
beings  called  slaves  in  Kaskaskia  and  the  other  French  settlements 
when  our  first  State  constitution  was  adopted;  that  is  a  fact,  and 
I  don't  deny  it.  Slaves  were  brought  here  as  early  as  1720,  and 
were  kept  here  in  spite  of  the  ordinance  of  1787  against  it.  But 
slavery  did  not  thrive  here.  On  the  contrary,  under  the  influence 
of  the  ordinance,  the  number  decreased  fifty-one  from  1810  to  1820 ; 
while  under  the  influence  of  squatter  sovereignty,  right  across  the 
river  in  Missouri,  they  increased  seven  thousand  two  hundred  and 
eleven  in  the  same  time;  and  slavery  finally  faded  out  in  Illinois, 
under  the  influence  of  the  law  of  freedom,  while  it  grew  stronger  and 
stronger  in  Missouri,  under  the  law  or  practice  of  "popular  sovereign 
ty."  In  point  of  fact  there  were  but  one  hundred  and  seventeen  slaves 
in  Illinois  one  year  after  its  admission,  or  one  to  every  four  hun 
dred  and  seventy  of  its  population;  or,  to  state  it  in  another  way, 
if  Illinois  was  a  slave  State  in  1820,  so  were  New  York  and  New 
Jersey  much  greater  slave  States  from  having  had  greater  num 
bers,  slavery  having  been  established  there  in  very  early  times, 
But  there  is  this  vital  difference  between  all  these  States  and  the 
judge's  Kansas  experiment;  that  they  sought  to  disestablish  slav 
ery  which  had  been  already  established,  while  the  judge  seeks,  so 
far  as  he  can,  to  disestablish  freedom,  which  had  been  established 
there  by  the  Missouri  Compromise.  [Voices :  "  Good !  "] 

The  Union  is  undergoing  a  fearful  strain;  but  it  is  a  stout  old 
ship,  and  has  weathered  many  a  hard  blow,  and  "  the  stars  in 
their  courses,"  aye,  an  invisible  power,  greater  than  the  puny  efforts 
of  men,  will  fight  for  us.  But  we  ourselves  must  not  decline  the 
burden  of  responsibility,  nor  take  counsel  of  unworthy  passions. 


320  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

Whatever  duty  urges  us  to  do  or  to  omit,  must  be  done  or  omitted; 
and  the  recklessness  with  which  our  adversaries  break  the  laws, 
or  counsel  their  violation,  should  afford  no  example  for  us.  There 
fore,  let  us  revere  the  Declaration  of  Independence ;  let  us  continue 
to  obey  the  Constitution  and  the  laws;  let  us  keep  step  to  the 
musk;  of  the  Union.  Let  us  draw  a  cordon,  so  to  speak,  around  the 
slave  States,  and  the  hateful  institution,  like  a  reptile  poisoning  it 
self,  will  perish  by  its  own  infamy.  [Applause.] 

But  we  cannot  be  free  men  if  this  is,  by  our  national  choice, 
to  be  a  land  of  slavery.  Those  who  deny  freedom  to  others,  deserve 
it  not  for  themselves;  and,  under  the  rule  of  a  just  God,  cannot 
long  retain  it.  [Loud  applause.] 

Did  you  ever,  my  friends,  seriously  reflect  upon  the  speed  with 
which  we  are  tending  downwards?  Within  the  memory  of  men 
now  present  the  leading  statesmen  of  Virginia  could  make  genuine, 
red-hot  abolitionist  speeches  in  old  Virginia!  and,  as  I  have  said, 
now  even  in  "  free  Kansas  "  it  is  a  crime  to  declare  that  it  is  "  free 
Kansas."  The  very  sentiments  that  I  and  others  have  just  ut 
tered,  would  entitle  us,  and  each  of  us,  to  the  ignominy  and  se 
clusion  of  a  dungeon;  and  yet  I  suppose  that,  like  Paul,  we  were 
"  free  born."  But  if  this  thing  is  allowed  to  continue,  it  will  be 
but  one  step  further  to  impress  the  same  rule  in  Illinois.  [Sensa 
tion.] 

The  conclusion  of  all  is,  that  we  must  restore  the  Missouri 
Compromise.  We  must  highly  resolve  that  Kansas  must  "be,  free! 
[Great  applause.]  We  must  reinstate  the  birthday  promise  of  the 
Republic;  we  must  reaffirm  the  Declaration  of  Independence;  we 
must  make  good  in  essence  as  well  as  in  form  Madison's  avowal 
that  "  the  word  slave  ought  not  to  appear  in  the  Constitution ; " 
and  we  must  even  go  further,  and  decree  that  only  local  law,  and 
not  that  time-honored  instrument,  shall  shelter  a  slave-holder.  We 
must  make  this  a  land  of  liberty  in  fact,  as  it  is  in  name. 
But  in  seeking  to  attain  these  results — so  indispensable  if  the  lib 
erty  which  is  our  pride  and  boast  shall  endure — we  will  be  loyal 
to  the  Constitution  and  to  the  "  flag  of  our  Union,"  and  no  matter 
what  our  grievance — even  though  Kansas  shall  come  in  as  a  slave 
State ;  and  no  matter  what  theirs — even  if  we  shall  restore  the  Com 
promise WE  WILL  SAY  TO  THE  SOUTHERN  DISUNIONISTS,  WE  WON^T 

GO  OUT  OF  THE  UNION,  AND  YOU  SHAN'T!  !  !  [This  was  the  cli 
max;  the  audience  rose  to  its  feet  en  masse,  applauded,  stamped, 
waved  handkerchiefs,  threw  hats  in  the  air,  and  ran  riot  for  sev 
eral  minutes.  The  arch-enchanter  who  wrought  this  transforma 
tion  looked,  meanwhile,  like  the  personification  of  political  jus 
tice.] 

But  let  us,  meanwhile,  appeal,  to  the  sense  and  patriotism  of 
the  people,  and  not  to  their  prejudices;  let  us  spread  the  floods 
of  enthusiasm  here  aroused  all  over  these  vast  prairies,  so  sugges 
tive  of  freedom.  Let  us  commence  by  electing  the  gallant  sol 
dier  Governor  (Colonel)  Bissell  who  stood  for  the  honor  of  our 


APPENDIX  321 

State  alike  on  the  plains  and  amidst  the  chaparral  of  Mexico  and 
on  the  floor  of  Congress,  while  he  defied  the  Southern  Hotspur; 
and  that  will  have  a  greater  moral  effect  than  all  the  border  ruf 
fians  can  accomplish  in  all  their  raids  on  Kansas.  There  is  both 
a  power  and  a  magic  in  popular  opinion.  To  that  let  us  now  ap 
peal  ;  and  while,  in  all  probability,  no  resort  to  force  will  be  needed, 
our  moderation  and  forbearance  will  stand  us  in  good  stead  when, 
if  ever,  WE  MUST  MAKE  AN  APPEAL  TO  BATTLE  AND  TO  THE  GOD  OP 
HOSTS  !  !  [Immense  applause  and  a  rush  for  the  orator.] 

William  Grimes. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILLINOIS,  July  12,  1856. 

Yours  of  the  29th  of  June  was  duly  received.  I  did  not  an 
swer  it  because  it  plagued  me.  This  morning  I  received  an 
other  from  Judd  and  Peck,  written  by  consultation  with  you.  Now 
let  me  tell  you  why  I  am  plagued: 

1.  I  can  hardly  spare  the  time. 

2.  I  am  superstitious.     I  have  scarcely  known  a  party  pre 
ceding  an  election  to  call  in  help  from  the  neighboring  States, 
but  they  lost  the   State.     Last  fall,   our  friends  had  Wade,   of 
Ohio,  and  others,  in  Maine;  and  they  lost  the  State.    Last  spring 
our  adversaries  had  New  Hampshire  full  of  South  Carolinians, 
and  they  lost  the  State.     And  so,  generally,  it  seems  to  stir  up 
more  enemies  than  friends. 

Have  the  enemy  called  in  any  foreign  help?  If  they  have  a 
foreign  champion  there,  I  should  have  no  objection  to  drive  a 
nail  in  his  track.  I  shall  reach  Chicago  on  the  night  of  the  15th, 
to  attend  to  a  little  business  in  court.  Consider  the  things  I  have 
suggested,  and  write  me  at  Chicago.  Especially  write  me  whether 
Browning  consents  to  visit  you.  Your  obedient  servant, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(From  "  Life  of  Win.  Grimes,"  by  Salter.) 

John  Bennett. 

SPRINGFIELD,  Aug.  4,  1856. 
JOHN  BENNETT,  ESQ. 

DEAR  SIR:  I  understand  you  are  a  Fillmore  man — If,  as  be 
tween  Fremont  and  Buchanan  you  really  prefer  the  election  of 
Buchanan,  then  burn  this  without  reading  a  line  further —  But 
if  you  would  like  to  defeat  Buchanan  and  his  gang,  allow  me 
a  word  with  you —  Does  any  one  pretend  that  Fillmore  can 
carry  the  vote  of  this  State?  I  have  not  heard  a  single  man  pre 
tend  so — Every  vote  taken  from  Fremont  and  given  to  Fillmore  is 
just  so  much  in  favor  of  Buchanan.  The  Buchanan  men  see  this ; 
and  hence  their  great  anxiety  in  favor  of  the  Fillmore  movement — 
They  know  where  the  shoe  pinches —  They  now  greatly  prefer 
having  a  man  of  your  character  go  for  Fillmore  than  for  Buchanan 
(21) 


322  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

because  they  expect  several  to  go  with  you,  who  would  go  for 
Fremont,  if  you  were  to  go  directly  for  Buchanan. 

I  think  I  now  understand  the  relative  strength  of  the  three  par 
ties  in  this  state  as  well  as  any  one  man  does  and  my  opinion 
is  that  to-day  Buchanan  has  alone  85,000— Fremont  78,000  and 
Fillmore  21,000.  This  gives  B.  the  state  by  7,000  and  leaves  him 
in  the  minority  of  the  whole  14,000. 

Fremont  and  Fillmore  men  being  united  on  Bissell  as  they  al 
ready  are,  he  can  not  be  beaten — This  is  not  a  long  letter,  but 
it  contains  the  whole  story,  Yours  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  E.  R.  Oeltjen,  Petersburg,  111.) 

SPRINGFIELD,  Aug.  19,  1856. 

DEAR  DUBOIS  :  Your  letter  on  the  same  sheet  with  Mr.  Miller's  is 
just  received.  I  have  been  absent  four  days.  I  do  not  know  when 
your  court  sits. 

Trumbull  has  written  the  Committee  here  to  have  a  set  of 
appointments  made  for  him  commencing  here  in  Springfield, 
on  the  llth  of  Sept.,  and  to  extend  throughout  the  south  half 
of  the  State.  When  he  goes  to  Lawrenceville,  as  he  will,  I  will 
strain  every  nerve  to  be  with  you  and  him.  More  than  that  I  can 
not  promise  now.  Yours  as  truly  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  C.  F.  Gunther,  Chicago,  HL) 

Dr.  E.  Boal,  Lacon,  111. 

Sept.  14,  1856, 
DR.  R.  BOAL. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  Yours  of  the  8th  inviting  me  to  be  with  (you) 
at  Lacon  on  the  30th  is  received.  I  feel  that  I  o've  you  and  our 
friends  of  Marshall,  a  good  deal;  and  I  will  come  if  I  can;  and 
if  I  do  not  get  there,  it  will  be  because  I  shall  think  my  efforts 
ere  now  needed  further  South. 

Present  my  regards  to  Mrs.  Boal,  and  believe  (me),  as  ever 

Your  friend, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

< Original  owned  by  Dr.  Robert  Boal,  Lacon,  HI.) 

Dr.  R.  Boal,  Lacon,  HI. 

SPRINGFIELD,  Dec.  25,  1856. 
DR.  R.  BOAL. 

DEAR  SIR:  When  I  was  at  Chicago  two  weeks  ago  I  saw  Mr. 
Arnold,  and  from  a  remark  of  his,  I  inferred  he  was  thinking  of 
the  Speakership.  though  I  think  he  was  not  anxious  about  it. 


APPENDIX  323 

He  seemed  most  anxious  for  harmony  generally,  and  particularly 
that  the  contested  seats  from  Peoria  and  McDonough  might  be 
rightly  determined.  Since  I  came  home  I  had  a  talk  with  Cul- 
lom,  one  of  our  American  representatives  here,  and  he  says  he 
is  for  you  for  Speaker,  and  also  that  he  thinks  all  the  Americana 
will  be  for  you,  unless  it  be  Gorin,  of  Macon,  of  whom  he  cannot 
speak.  If  you  would  like  to  be  Speaker  go  right  up  and  see 
Arnold.  He  is  talented,  a  practiced  debater,  and,  I  think,  would  do 
himself  more  credit  on  the  floor  than  in  the  Speaker's  seat.  Go  and 
see  him ;  and  if  you  think  fit,  show  him  this  letter. 

Your  friend  as  ever. 

(Original  owned  by  Dr.  Kobert  Boal,  Lacon,  I1L> 

(Private.) 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  February  20, 1857. 
JOHN  E.  ROSETTE,  ESQ.  : 

DEAR  SIR  :  Your  note  about  the  little  paragraph  in  the  "  Re 
publican  "  was  received  yesterday,  since  which  time  I  have  been 
too  unwell  to  notice  it.  I  had  not  supposed  you  wrote  or  approved 
it.  The  whole  originated  in  mistake.  You  know  by  the  conversa 
tion  with  me  that  I  thought  the  establishment  of  the  paper  unfor 
tunate,  but  I  always  expected  to  throw  no  obstacle  in  its  way,  and 
to  patronize  it  to  the  extent  of  taking  and  paying  for  one  copy. 
When  the  paper  was  brought  to  my  house,  my  wife  said  to  me, 
"  Now  are  you  going  to  take  another  worthless  little  paper  ? "  I 
said  to  her  evasively,  "  I  have  not  directed  the  paper  to  be  left." 
From  this,  in  my  absence,  she  sent  the  message  to  the  carrier.  This 
is  the  whole  story. 

Yours  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(From  Herndon's  "  Life  of  Lincoln.") 

To  William  Grimes. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILLINOIS,  August,  1857. 

DEAR  SIR:  Yours  of  the  14th  is  received,  and  I  am  much 
obliged  for  the  legal  information  you  give. 

You  can  scarcely  be  more  anxious  than  I  that  the  next  election 
in  Iowa  should  result  in  favor  of  the  Republicans.  I  lost  nearly 
all  the  working-part  of  last  year,  giving  my  time  to  the  canvass; 
and  I  am  altogether  too  poor  to  lose  two  years  together.  I  am 
engaged  in  a  suit  in  the  United  States  Court  at  Chicago,  in  which 
the  Rock  Island  Bridge  Company  is  a  party.  The  trial  is  to  com 
mence  on  the  8th  of  September,  and  probably  will  last  two  or  three 
weeks.  During  the  trial  it  is  not  improbable  that  all  hands  may 
come  over  and  take  a  look  at  the  bridge,  and,  if  it  were  possibla 


324  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

to  make  it  hit  right,  I  could  then  speak  at  Davenport.  My  courts 
go  right  on  without  cessation  till  late  in  November.  Write  me 
again,  pointing  out  the  more  striking  points  of  difference  be 
tween  your  old  and  new  constitutions,  and  also  whether  Demo 
cratic  and  Republican  party  lines  were  drawn  in  the  adoption  of 
it,  and  which  were  for  and  which  were  against  it.  If,  by 
possibility,  I  could  get  over  among  you  it  might  be  of  some  ad 
vantage  to  know  these  things  in  advance.  Yours  very  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 
(From  "  Life  of  Wm.  Grimes,"  by  Salter.) 

LINCOLN'S  ARGUMENT  IN  THE  ROCK  ISLAND  BRIDGE 

CASE. 

From  "  The  Daily  Press  "  of  Chicago,  Sept.  24,  1857. 
THE  ROCK  ISLAND  BRIDGE  CASE. 

HURD  ET  AL. 
V8. 

RAILROAD  BRIDGE  Co. 


UNITED  STATES  CIRCUIT  COURT,         1 

HON.  JOHN  MCCLEAN,  Presiding  Judge.       I 

13th  day,  Tuesday,  Sept.  22nd,  1857.  J 

HONORABLE  ABRAM  LINCOLN'S  ARGUMENT. 

Mr.  A.  Lincoln  addressed  the  jury.  He  said  he  did  not  purpose  to 
assail  anybody,  that  he  expected  to  grow  earnest  as  he  proceeded 
but  not  ill  natured.  "  There  is  some  conflict  of  testi 
mony  in  the  case,"  he  said,  "  but  one  quarter  of  such  a  number 
of  witnesses  seldom  agree  and  even  if  all  were  on  one  side,  some 
discrepancy  might  be  expected.  We  are  to  try  and  reconcile 
them,  and  to  believe  that  they  are  not  intentionally  erroneous 
as  long  as  we  can."  He  had  no  prejudice,  he  said,  against  steam 
boats  or  steamboatmen  nor  any  against  St.  Louis  for  he  sup 
posed  they  went  about  this  matter  as  other  people  would  do  in 
their  situation.  "  St.  Louis,"  he  continued,  "  as  a  commercial 
place  may  desire  that  this  bridge  should  not  stand  as  it  is  ad 
verse  to  her  commerce,  diverting  a  portion  of  it  from  the  river; 
and  it  may  be  that  she  supposes  that  the  additional  cost  of  rail 
road  transportation  upon  the  productions  of  Iowa  will  force  them 
to  go  to  St.  Louis  if  this  bridge  is  removed.  The  meetings  in  St. 
Louis  are  connected  with  this  case  only  as  some  witnesses  are  in 
it  and  thus  has  some  prejudice  added  color  to  their  testimony." 

The  last  thing  that  would  be  pleasing  to  him,  Mr.  Lincoln  said, 
would  be  to  have  ons  of  these  great  channels  extending  almost 


APPENDIX  325 

from  where  it  never  freezes  to  where  it  never  thaws  blocked  up 
but  there  is  a  travel  from  east  to  west  whose  demands  are  not  less 
important  than  that  of  those  of  the  river.  It  is  growing  larger  and 
larger,  building  up  new  countries  with  a  rapidity  never  before 
seen  in  the  history  of  the  world.  He  alluded  to  the  astonishing 
growth  of  Illinois  having  grown  within  his  memory  to  a  population 
of  a  million  and  a  half;  to  Iowa  and  the  other  young  rising  com 
munities  of  the  northwest. 

"  This  current  of  travel,"  said  he,  "  has  its  rights  as  well  as  that 
of  north  and  south.  If  the  river  had  not  the  advantage  in  priority 
and  legislation  we  could  enter  into  free  competition  with  it  and  we 
could  surpass  it.  This  particular  railroad  line  has  a  great  im 
portance  and  the  statement  of  its  business  during  a  little  less 
than  a  year  shows  this  importance.  It  is  in  evidence  that  from 
September  8th,  1856,  to  August  8th,  1857,  12,586  freight  cars  and 
74,179  passengers  passed  over  this  bridge.  Navigation  was  closed 
four  days  short  of  four  months  last  year,  and  during  this  time 
while  the  river  was  of  no  use  this  road  and  bridge  were  valuable. 
There  is  too  a  considerable  portion  of  time  when  floating  or  thin 
ice  makes  the  river  useless  while  the  bridge  is  as  useful  as  ever. 
This  shows  that  this  bridge  must  be  treated  with  respect  in  this 
court  and  is  not  to  be  kicked  about  with  contempt.  The  other 
day  Judge  "Wead  alluded  to  the  strike  of  the  contending  interest 
and  even  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  The  proper  mode  for  all 
parties  in  this  affair  is  to  '  live  and  let  live  '•  and  then  we  will 
find  a  cessation  of  this  trouble  about  the  bridge.  What  mood 
were  the  steamboat  men  in  when  this  bridge  was  burned?  Why 
there  was  a  shouting  and  ringing  of  bells  and  whistling  on  all 
the  boats  as  it  fell.  It  was  a  jubilee,  a  greater  celebration  than 
follows  an  excited  election.  The  first  thing  I  will  proceed  to  is  the 
record  of  Mr.  Gurney  and  the  complaint  of  Judge  Wead  that 
the  record  did  not  extend  back  over  all  the  time  from  the  comple 
tion  of  the  bridge.  The  principal  part  of  the  navigation  after  the 
bridge  was  burned  passed  through  the  span.  When  the  bridge 
was  repaired  and  the  boats  were  a  second  time  confined  to  the 
draw  it  was  provided  that  this  record  should  be  kept-  That  is  the 
simple  history  of  that  book. 

"  From  April  19th,  1856,  to  May  6th — seventeen  days — there  were 
twenty  accidents  and  all  the  time  since  then  there  have  been  but 
twenty  hits,  including  seven  accidents,  so  that  the  dangers  of  this 
place  are  tapering  off  and  as  the  boatmen  get  cool  the  accidents 
get  less.  We  may  soon  expect  if  this  ratio  is  kept  up  that  there 
will  be  no  accidents  at  all. 

"  Judge  Wead  said  while  admitting  that  the  floats  went  straight 
through  there  was  a  difference  between  a  float  and  a  boat,  but  I 
do  not  remember  that  he  indulged  us  with  an  argument  in  sup 
port  of  this  statement.  Is  it  because  there  is  a  difference  in  size? 
Will  not  a  small  body  and  a  large  one  float  the  same  way  under 
the  same  influence?  True  a  flat  boat  will  float  faster  than  an 


326  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

egg  shell  and  the  egg  shell  might  be  blown  away  by  the  wind,  but  if 
under  the  same  influence  they  would  go  the  same  way.  Logs,  floats, 
boards,  various  things  the  witnesses  say  all  show  the  same  cur 
rent.  Then  is  not  this  test  reliable?  At  all  depths  too  the  direc 
tion  of  the  current  is  the  same.  A  series  of  these  floats  would 
make  a  line  as  long  as  a  boat  and  would  show  any  influence  upon 
any  part  and  all  parts  of  the  boat. 

"  I  will  now  speak  of  the  angular  position  of  the  piers.  What 
is  the  amount  of  the  angle  ?  The  course  of  the  river  is  a  curve  and 
the  pier  is  straight.  If  a  line  is  produced  from  the  upper  end  of 
the  long  pier  straight  with  the  pier  to  a  distance  of  350  feet  and  a 
line  is  drawn  from  a  point  in  the  channel  opposite  this  point  to 
the  head  of  the  pier,  Colonel  Nason  says  they  will  form  an  angle 
of  twenty  degrees.  But  the  angle  if  measured  at  the  pier  is  seven 
degrees,  that  is  we  would  have  to  move  the  pier  seven  degrees 
to  make  it  exactly  straight  with  the  current.  Would  that  make 
the  navigation  better  or  worse?  The  witnesses  of  the  plaintiff 
seem  to  think  it  was  only  necessary  to  say  that  the  pier  formed 
an  angle  with  the  current  and  that  settled  the  matter.  Our  more 
careful  and  accurate  witnesses  say  that  though  they  had  been 
accustomed  to  seeing  the  piers  placed  straight  with  the  current, 
yet  they  could  see  that  here  the  current  had  been  made  straight 
by  us  in  having  made  this  slight  angle;  that  the  water  now  runs 
just  right,  that  it  is  straight  and  cannot  be  improved.  They  think 
that  if  the  pier  was  changed  the  eddy  would  be  divided  and  the 
navigation  improved. 

"  I  am  not  now  going  to  discuss  the  question  what  is  a  material 
obstruction.  We  do  not  greatly  differ  about  the  law.  The  cases 
produced  here  are  I  suppose  proper  to  be  taken  into  consideration 
by  the  court  in  instructing  a  jury.  Some  of  them  I  think  are  not 
exactly  in  point,  but  I  am  still  willing  to  trust  his  honor,  Judge 
McClean,  and  take  his  instructions  as  law.  What  is  reasonable 
skill  and  care?  This  is  a  thing  of  which  the  jury  are  to  judge. 
I  differ  from  the  other  side  when  it  says  that  they  are  bound  to 
exercise  no  more  care  than  was  taken  before  the  building  of  the 
bridge.  If  we  are  allowed  by  the  legislature  to  build  the  bridge 
which  will  require  them  to  do  more  than  before  when  a  pilot 
comes  along  it  is  unreasonable  for  him  to  dash  on  heedless  of  this 
structure  which  has  been  legally  put  there.  The  Afton  came  there 
on  the  5th  and  lay  at  Rock  Island  until  next  morning.  When  a 
boat  lies  up  the  pilot  has  a  holiday,  and  would  not  any  of  these 
jurors  have  then  gone  around  to  the  bridge  and  gotten  acquainted 
with  the  place.  Pilot  Parker  has  shown  here  that  he  does  not 
understand  the  draw.  I  heard  him  say  that  the  fall  from  the  head 
to  the  foot  of  the  pier  was  four  feet;  he  needs  information.  He 
could  have  gone  there  that  day  and  seen  there  was  no  such  fall. 
He  should  have  discarded  passion  and  the  chances  are  that  he 
would  have  had  no  disaster  at  all.  He  was  bound  to  make  himself 
acquainted  with  the  place. 


APPENDIX  327 

"  McCammon  says  that  the  current  and  the  swell  coming  from 
the  long  pier  drove  her  against  the  long  pier.  In  other  words 
drove  her  toward  the  very  pier  from  which  the  current  came!  It 
is  an  absurdity,  an  impossibility.  The  only  recollection  I  can 
find  for  this  contradiction  is  in  a  current  which  White  says  strikes 
out  from  the  long  pier  and  then  like  a  ram's  horn  turns  back  and 
this  might  have  acted  somehow  in  this  manner. 

"  It  is  agreed  by  all  that  the  plaintiffs  boat  was  destroyed  and 
that  it  was  destroyed  upon  the  head  of  the  short  pier;  that  she 
moved  from  the  channel  where  she  was  with  her  bow  above  the 
head  of  the  long  pier;  till  she  struck  the  short  one,  swung  around 
under  the  bridge  and  there  was  crowded  and  destroyed. 

"I  shall  try  to  prove  that  the  average  velocity  of  the  current 
through  the  draw  with  the  boat  in  it  should  be  five  and  a  half 
miles  an  hour ;  that  it  is  slowest  at  the  head  of  the  pier  and  swiftest 
at  the  foot  of  the  pier.  Their  lowest  estimate  in  evidence  is  six 
,  miles  an  hour,  their  highest  twelve  miles.  This  was  the  testi 
mony  of  men  who  had  made  no  experiment,  only  conjecture.  We 
have  adopted  the  most  exact  means.  The  water  runs  swiftest  in 
high  water  and  we  have  taken  the  point  of  nine  feet  above  low 
water.  The  water  when  the  Afton  was  lost  was  seven  feet  above 
low  water,  or  at  least  a  foot  lower  than  our  time.  Brayton  and 
his  assistants  timed  the  instrument.  The  best  instruments  known 
in  measuring  currents.  They  timed  them  under  various  circum 
stances  and  they  found  the  current  five  miles  an  hour  and  no 
more.  They  found  that  the  water  at  the  upper  end  ran  slower 
than  five  miles ;  that  below  it  was  swifter  than  five  miles,  but  that 
the  average  was  five  miles.  Shall  men  who  have  taken  no  care, 
who  conjecture,  some  of  whom  speak  of  twenty  miles  an  hour,  be 
believed  against  those  who  have  had  such  a  favorable  and  well 
improved  opportunity?  They  should  not  even  qualify  the  result. 
Several  men  have  given  their  opinion  as  to  the  distance  of  the 
steamboat  Carson  and  I  suppose  if  one  should  go  and  measure 
that  distance  you  would  believe  him  in  preference  to  all  of  them. 

"  These  measurements  were  made  when  the  boat  was  not  in  the 
draw.  It  has  been  ascertained  what  is  the  area  of  the  cross  sec 
tion  of  this  stream  and  the  area  of  the  face  of  the  piers  and  the 
engineers  say  that  the  piers  being  put  there  will  increase  the  cur 
rent  proportionally  as  the  space  is  decreased.  So  with  the  boat 
in  the  draw.  The  depth  of  the  channel  was  twenty-two  feet,  the 
width  one  hundred  and  sixteen  feet,  multiply  there  and  you  have 
the  square  feet  across  the  water  of  the  draw,  viz. :  2,552  feet.  The 
Afton  was  35  feet  wide  and  drew  5  feet,  making  a  fourteenth  of 
the  sum.  Now,  one-fourteenth  of  five  miles  is  five-fourteenths  of 
one  mile — -about  one  third  of  a  mile — the  increase  of  the  current. 
We  will  call  the  current  five  and  a  half  miles  per  hour.  The  next 
thing  I  will  try  to  prove  is  that  the  plaintiff's  ( ?)  boat  had  power 
to  run  six  miles  an  hour  in  that  current.  It  has  been  testified 
that  she  was  a  strong,  swift  boat,  able  to  run  eight  miles  an  hour 


328  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

up  stream  in  a  current  of  four  miles  an  hour  and  fifteen  miles  down 
stream.  Strike  the  average  and  you  will  find  what  is  her  average — • 
about  eleven  and  a  half  miles.  Take  the  five  and  a  half  miles 
which  is  the  speed  of  the  current  in  the  draw  and  it  leaves  the 
power  of  that  boat  in  that  draw  at  six  miles  an  hour,  528  feet 
per  minute  and  8  4-5  feet  to  the  second. 

"  Next  I  propose  to  show  that  there  are  no  cross  currents.  I 
know  their  witnesses  say  that  there  are  cross  currents — that  as 
one  witness  says  there  were  three  cross  currents  and  two  eddies; 
so  far  as  mere  statement  without  experiment  and  mingled  with 
mistakes  can  go  they  have  proved.  But  can  these  men's  testi 
mony  be  compared  with  the  nice,  exact,  thorough  experiments  of 
our  witnesses.  Can  you  believe  that  these  floats  go  across  the 
currents?  It  is  inconceivable  that  they  could  not  have  discov 
ered  every  possible  current.  How  do  boats  find  currents  that 
floats  cannot  discover?  We  assume  the  position  then  that  those 
cross  currents  are  not  there.  My  next  proposition  is  that  the  Afton 
passed  between  the  S.  B.  Carson  and  the  Iowa  shore.  That  is  un 
disputed. 

"  Next  I  shall  show  that  she  struck  first  the  short  pier,  then  the 
long  pier,  then  the  short  one  again  and  there  she  stopped." 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  cited  the  testimony  of  eighteen  witnesses  on 
this  point. 

"  How  did  the  boat  strike  when  she  went  in  ?  Here  is  an  end 
less  variety  of  opinion.  But  ten  of  them  say  what  pier  she  struck; 
three  of  them  testify  that  she  struck  first  the  short,  then  the  long 
and  then  the  short  for  the  last  time.  None  of  the  rest  substan 
tially  contradict  this.  I  assume  that  these  men  have  got  the 
truth  because  I  believe  it  an  established  fact.  My  next  proposi 
tion  is  that  after  she  struck  the  short  and  long  pier  and  before  she 
got  back  to  the  short  pier  the  boat  got  right  with  her  bow  up.  So 
says  the  pilot  Parker — '  that  he  got  her  through  until  her  star 
board  wheel  passed  the  short  pier.'  This  would  make  her  head  about 
even  with  the  head  of  the  long  pier.  He  says  her  head  was  as  high 
or  higher  than  the  head  of  the  long  pier.  Other  witnesses  confirmed 
this  one.  The  final  stroke  was  in  the  splash  door  aft  the  wheel. 
Witnesses  differ  but  the  majority  say  that  she  struck  thus." 

Court  adjourned. 

14th  day,  Wednesday,  Sept.  23,  1857. 

Mr.  A.  Lincoln  resumed.  He  said  he  should  conclude  as  soon  as 
possible.  He  said  the  colored  map  of  the  plaintiff  which  was 
brought  in  during  one  stage  of  the  trial  showed  itself  that  the 
cross  currents  alleged  did  not  exist.  That  the  current  as  repre 
sented  would  drive  an  ascending  boat  to  the  long  pier  but  not 
to  the  short  pier,  as  they  urge.  He  explained  from  a  model  of  a 
boat  where  the  splash  door  is  just  behind  the  wheel.  The  boat 
struck  on  the  lower  shouldei  of  the  short  pier  as  she  swung  around 


APPENDIX  329 

in  the  splash  cloor,  then  as  she  went  on  around  she  struck  the 
point  or  end  of  the  pier  where  she  rested.  "  Her  engineers,"  said 
Mr.  Lincoln,  "  say  the  starboard  wheel  then  was  rushing  around 
rapidly.  Then  the  boat  must  have  struck  the  upper  point  of  the 
pier  so  far  back  as  not  to  disturb  the  wheel.  It  is  forty  feet 
from  the  stern  of  the  Afton  to  the  splash  door  and  thus  it  appears 
that  she  had  but  forty  feet  to  go  to  clear  the  pier.  How  was  it 
that  the  Afton  with  all  her  power  flanked  over  from  the  channel 
to  the  short  pier  without  moving  one  foot  ahead?  Suppose  she 
was  in  the  middle  of  the  draw,  her  wheel  would  have  been  31  feet 
from  the  short  pier.  The  reason  she  went  over  thus  is  her  star 
board  wheel  was  not  working.  I  shall  try  to  establish  the  fact 
that  the  wheel  was  not  running  and  that  after  she  struck  she 
went  ahead  strong  on  this  same  wheel.  Upon  the  last  point  the 
witnesses  agree  that  the  starboard  wheel  was  running  after  she 
struck  and  no  witnesses  say  that  it  was  running  while  she  was 
out  in  the  draw  flanking  over," 

Mr.  Lincoln  read  from  the  testimonies  of  various  witnesses  to 
prove  that  the  starboard  wheel  was  not  working  while  the  Afton 
was  out  in  the  stream. 

"  Other  witnesses  show  that  the  captain  said  something  of  the 
machinery  of  the  wheel  and  the  inference  is  that  he  knew  the 
wheel  was  not  working.  The  fact  is  undisputed  that  she  did  not 
move  one  inch  ahead  while  she  was  moving  this  31  feet  sideways. 
There  is  evidence  proving  that  the  current  there  is  only  five  miles 
an  hour  and  the  only  explanation  is  that  her  power  was  not  all 
used — that  only  one  wheel  was  working.  The  pilot  says  he  or 
dered  the  engineers  to  back  her  up.  The  engineers  differ  from 
him  and  said  they  kept  one  going  ahead.  The  bow  was  so  swung 
that  the  current  pressed  it  over;  the  pilot  pressed  the 
stern  over  with  the  rudder  though  not  so  fast  but  that  the  bow 
gained  on  it  and  only  one  wheel  being  in  motion  the  boat  nearly 
stood  still  so  far  as  motion  up  and  down  is  concerned,  and  thus 
she  was  thrown  upon  this  pier.  The  Afton  came  into  the  draw 
after  she  had  just  passed  the  Carson  and  as  the  Carson  no  doubt 
kept  the  true  course  the  Afton  going  around  her  got  out  of  the 
proper  way,  got  across  the  current  into  the  eddy  which  is  west  of 
a  straight  line  drawn  down  from  the  long  pier,  was  compelled  to 
resort  to  these  changes  of  wheels  which  she  did  not  do  with  suffi 
cient  adroitness  to  save  her.  Was  it  not  her  own  fault  that  she 
entered  wrong,  so  far  wrong  that  she  never  got  right?  Is  the  de 
fense  to  blame  for  that? 

"  For  several  days  we  were  entertained  with  depositions  about 
boats  '  smelling  a  bar.'  Why  did  the  Afton  then  after  she  had 
come  up  smelling  so  close  to  the  long  pier  sheer  off  so  strangely 
when  she  got  to  the  center  of  the  very  nose  she  was  smelling  she 
seemed  suddenly  to  have  lost  her  sense  of  smell  and  to  have  flanked 
over  to  the  short  pier." 

Mr.  Lincoln  said  there  was  no  practicability  in  the  project  of 


330  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

building  a  tunnel  under  the  river,  for  there  "  is  not  a  tunnel  that 
is  a  successful  project  in  this  world.  A  suspension  bridge  cannot 
be  built  so  high  but  that  the  chimneys  of  the  boats  will  grow  up 
till  they  cannot  pass.  The  steamboatmen  will  take  pains  to  make 
them  grow.  The  cars  of  a  railroad  cannot  without  immense  ex 
pense  rise  high  enough  to  get  even  with  a  suspension  bridge  or 
go  low  enough  to  get  through  a  tunnel;  such  expense  is  unrea 
sonable. 

"  The  plaintiffs  have  to  establish  that  the  bridge  is  a  material 
obstruction  and  that  they  have  managed  their  boat  with  reason 
able  care  and  skill  As  to  the  last  point  high  winds  have  nothing 
to  do  with  it,  for  it  was  not  a  windy  day.  They  must  show  due  skill 
and  care.  Difficulties  going  down  stream  will  not  do  for  they  were 
going  up  stream.  Difficulties  with  barges  in  tow  have  nothing  to 
do  with  the  accident,  for  they  had  no  barge." 

Mr.  Lincoln  said  he  had  much  more  to  say,  many  things  he 
could  suggest  to  the  jury,  but  he  wished  to  close  to  save  time. 

Jesse  K.  Dubois. 

BLOOMINGTON,  Dec.  21,  1857. 

DEAR  DUBOIS  :  J.  M.  Douglas  of  the  I.  C.  K.  E.  Co.  is  here  and 
will  carry  this  letter.  He  says  they  have  a  large  sum  (near  $90,000) 
which  they  will  pay  into  the  treasury  now,  if  they  have  an  assur 
ance  that  they  shall  not  be  sued  before  Jany.  1859 — otherwise  not. 
I  really  wish  you  could  consent  to  this.  Douglas  says  they  can 
not  pay  more  and  I  believe  him. 

I  do  not  write  this  as  a  lawyer  seeking  an  advantage  for  a  client ; 
but  only  as  a  friend,  only  urging  you  to  do  what  I  think  I  would 
do  if  I  were  in  your  situation.  I  mean  this  as  private  and  confi 
dential  only,  but  I  feel  a  good  deal  of  anxiety  about  it. 

Yours,  as  ever, 

A.   LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  C.  F.  Gunther,  Chicago,  111.) 

SPRINGFIELD,  Jan.  19,  1858. 
To  HON.  GEO.  T.  BROWN: 

Send  Jo.  Gillespie  up  here  at  once.    Don't  fail. 

A.  LINCOLN. 
(Copy  of  note,  sent  with  telegram,  from  Brown  to  Gillespie.) 

DEAR  Jo: 

Have  just  rec'd  this  telegraph.  I  know  nothing  further.  I  send 
a  buggy  for  you.  BROWN. 

(Copy  of  telegram  sent  from  Abraham  Lincoln,  [Springfield]  to 
Joseph  Gillespie,  [Edwardsville]  through  George  T.  Brown, 
[Alton].) 

(Original  owned  by  Mrs.  Josephine  Gillespie  Prickett.) 


APPENDIX  331 

SPRINGFIELD,  3  an.  19,  1858. 
HON.  JOSEPH  GILLESPIE: 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  This  morning  Col.  McClernand  showed  me  a 
petition  for  a  mandamus  against  the  Secretary  of  State  to  compel 
him  to  certify  the  apportionment  act  of  last  session;  and  he  says 
it  will  be  presented  to  the  court  to-morrow  morning.  We  shall  be 
allowed  three  or  four  days  to  get  up  a  return ;  and  I,  for  one,  want 
the  benefit  of  consultation  with  you. 

Please  come  right  up.  Yours  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Mrs.  Josephine  Gillespie  Prickett  of  Ed- 
wardsville,  HI.) 


SPRINGFIELD,  Feb.  7,  1858. 
HON.  J.  GILLESPIE: 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  Yesterday  morning  the  court  overruled  the  de 
murrer  to  Hatch's  return  in  the  mandamus  case.  McClernand 
was  present;  said  nothing  about  pleading  over;  and  so  I  suppose 
the  matter  is  ended.  The  court  gave  no  reason  for  the  decision; 
but  Peck  tells  me  confidentially  that  they  were  unanimous  in  the 
opinion  that  even  if  the  Gov'r  had  signed  the  bill  purposely,  he  had 
the  right  to  scratch  his  name  off,  so  long  as  the  bill  remained  in  his 
custody  and  control.  Yours  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Mrs.  Josephine  Gillespie  Prickett  of  Ed- 
wardsville,  HI.) 


Mr.  Edward  G.  Miner,  Winchester,  HI. 

SPRINGFIELD,  Feb.  19,  1858. 
EDWARD  G.  MINER,  ESQ., — 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  Mr.  G.  A.  Sutton  is  an  applicant  for  superin 
tendent  of  the  addition  to  the  Insane  Asylum,  and  I  understand  it 
partly  depends  on  you  whether  he  gets  it. 

Mr.  Sutton  is  my  fellow  townsman  and  friend,  and  I  therefore 
wish  to  say  for  him  that  he  is  a  man  of  sterling  integrity  and  as  a 
master  mechanic  and  builder  not  surpassed  by  any  in  our  city,  or 
any  I  have  known  anywhere  as  far  as  I  can  judge. 
^  I  hope  you  will  consider  me  as  being  really  interested  for  Mr. 
Sutton  and  not  as  writing  merely  to  relieve  myself  of  importunity. 

Please  ^how  this  to  Col.  William  Koss  and  let  him  consider  it 
as  much  intended  for  him  as  for  yourself. 

Your  friend  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Edward  G.  Miner,  Jr.,  Eochester,  N.  Y.) 


332  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

Sydney  Spring,  Grayville,  111. 

SPRINGFIELD,  June  19,  1858. 
SYDNEY  SPRING,  ESQ., 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  Your  letter  introducing  Mr.  Faree  was  duly 
received.  There  was  no  opening  to  nominate  him  for  Superin 
tendent  of  Public  Instruction,  but  through  him,  Egypt  made  a 
most  valuable  contribution  to  the  convention.  I  think  it  may 
be  fairly  said  that  he  came  off  the  lion  of  the  day —  or  rather  of 
the  night.  Can  you  not  elect  him  to  the  Legislature?  It  seems 
to  me  he  would  be  hard  to  beat.  What  objection  could  be  made 
to  him?  What  is  your  Senator  Martin  saying  and  doing?  Wliat 
is  Webb  about? 

Please  write  me.  Yours  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  S.  T.  Spring,  Grayville,  111.) 

SPRINGFIELD,  July  16,  1858. 
HON.  JOSEPH  GILLESPIE: 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  write  this  to  say  that  from  the  specimens  of 
Douglas  Democracy  we  occasionally  see  here  from  Madison,  we 
learn  that  they  are  making  very  confident  calculation  of  beating 
you,  and  your  friends  for  the  lower  house,  in  that  county.  They 
offer  to  bet  upon  it.  Billings  and  Job,  respectively,  have  been  up 
here,  and  were  each,  as  I  learn,  talking  largely  about  it.  If  they 
do  so,  it  can  only  be  done  by  carrying  the  Fillmore  men  of  1856  very 
differently  from  what  they  seem  to  going  in  the  other  party.  Below 
is  the  vote  of  1856,  in  your  district. 

Counties.  Buchanan.  Fremont.  Fillmore. 

Bond   607  153  659 

Madison    1451  1111  1658 

Montgomery  992  162  686 

3050  1426  3003 

By  this  you  will  see,  if  you  go  through  the  calculation,  that  if 
they  get  one-quarter  of  the  Fillmore  votes,  and  you  three-quarters, 
they  will  beat  you  125  votes.  If  they  get  one-fifth,  and  you  four- 
fifths,  you  beat  them  179.  In  Madison,  alone,  if  our  friends  get 
1000  of  the  Fillmore  votes,  and  their  opponents  the  remainder,  658, 
we  win  by  just  two  votes. 

This  shows  the  whole  field,  on  the  basis  of  the  election  of  1856. 

Whether,  since  then,  any  Buchanan,  or  Fremonters,  have  shifted 
ground,  and  how  the  majority  of  new  votes  will  go,  you  can  judge 
better  than  I. 

Of  course  you,  on  the  ground,  can  better  determine  your  line  of 
tactics  than  any  one  off  the  ground ;  but  it  behooves  you  to  be  wide 
awake,  and  actively  working. 


APPENDIX  333 

Don't  neglect  it ;  and  write  me  at  your  first  leisure. 

Yours  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

John  Mathers,  Jacksonville,  111. 

SPRINGFIELD,  July  20,  1858. 
JNO.  MATHERS,  ESQ. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  Your  kind  and  interesting  letter  of  the  19th 
was  duly  received.  Your  suggestions  as  to  placing  one's  self  on  the 
offensive  rather  than  the  defensive  are  certainly  correct.  That  is 
a  point  which  I  shall  not  disregard.  I  spoke  here  on  Saturday  night. 
The  speech,  not  very  well  reported,  appears  in  the  State  Journal 
of  this  morning.  You  doubtless  will  see  it;  and  I  hope  that  you 
will  perceive  in  it,  that  I  am  already  improving.  I  would  mail 
you  a  copy  now,  but  have  not  one  hand.  I  thank  you  for  your 
letter  and  shall  be  pleased  to  hear  from  you  again. 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.   LINCOLN. 
(Original  owned  by  K.  W.  Mills,  Virginia,  111.) 

SPRINGFIELD,  July  25,  1858. 
HON.  J.  GILLESPIE  : 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  doleful  letter  of  the  18th,  was  received  on 
my  return  from  Chicago  last  night.  I  do  hope  you  are  worse  scared 
than  hurt,  though  you  ought  to  know  best.  We  must  not  lose  the 
district.  We  must  make  a  job  of  it,  and  save  it.  Lay  hold  of  the 
proper  agencies,  and  secure  all  the  Americans  you  can,  at  once.  I 
do  hope,  on  closer  inspection,  you  will  find  they  are  not  half  gone. 
Make  a  little  test.  Run  down  one  of  the  poll-books  of  the  Ed- 
wardsville  precinct,  and  take  the  first  hundred  known  American 
names.  Then  quietly  ascertain  how  many  of  them  are  actually 
going  for  Douglas.  I  think  you  will  find  less  than  fifty.  But  even 
if  you  find  fifty,  make  sure  of  the  other  fifty, — that  is,  make  sure  of 
all  you  can,  at  all  events.  We  will  set  other  agencies  to  work 
which  shall  compensate  for  the  loss  of  a  good  many  Americans. 
Don't  fail  to  check  the  stampede  at  once.  Trumbull,  I  think,  will 
be  with  you  before  long. 

There  is  much  he  cannot  do,  and  some  he  can.  I  have  reason 
to  hope  there  will  be  other  help  of  an  appropriate  kind.  Write  me 
again.  Yours  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Mrs.  Josephine  Gillespie  Prickett  of  Ed- 
war  dsville,  111.) 

E.  C.  Cook. 

SPRINGFIELD,  Aug.  2,  1858. 
HON.  R  C.  COOK, 

MY  DEAR  SIR:    I  have  a  letter  from  a  very  true  friend  and  in- 


334  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

telligenf  man  insisting  that  there  is  a  plan  on  foot  in  La  Salle 
and  Bureau  to  run  Douglas  republicans  for  Congress  and  for 
the  Legislature  in  those  counties,  if  they  can  only  get  the  en 
couragement  of  our  folks  nominating  pretty  extreme  abolitionists. 
It  is  thought  they  will  do  nothing  if  our  folks  nominate  men  who 
are  not  very  obnoxious  to  the  charge  of  abolitionism?  Please 
have  your  eye  upon  this. 

Signs  are  looking  pretty  fair.  Yours  very  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  C.  F.  Gunther,  Chicago,  111.) 

Hon.  J.  M.  Palmer. 

SPRINGFIELD,  Aug.  5,  1853. 
HON.  J.  M.  PALMER, 

DEAR  SIR:  Since  we  parted  last  evening  no  new  thought  has 
occurred  to  (me)  on  the  subject  of  which  we  talked  most  yes 
terday. 

I  have  concluded,  however,  to  speak  at  your  town  on  Tuesday, 
August  31st,  and  have  promised  to  have  it  so  appear  in  the  papers 
of  to-morrow.  Judge  Trumbull  has  not  yet  reached  here. 

Yours  as  ever, 

A.   LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  the  Kev.  Preston  Wood,  Springfield,  HI.) 

SPRINGFIELD,  Aug.  11,  1858. 
ALEXANDER  SYMPSON,  ESQ.  : 

DEAR  SIR:  Yours  of  the  6th  received.  If  life  and  health  con 
tinue  I  shall  pretty  likely  be  at  Augusta  on  the  25th. 

Things  look  reasonably  well.  Will  tell  you  more  fully  when  I 
see  you.  Yours  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  family  of  Alexander  Sympson,  Lewistown,  HI.) 

Dr.  William  Fithian,  Danville,  111. 

BLOOMINGTON,  Sept.  3,  1858. 

DEAR  DOCTOR:  Yours  of  the  1st  was  received  this  morning,  as 
also  one  from  Mr  Harmon,  and  one  from  Hiram  Beckwith  on  the 
same  subject.  You  will  see  by  the  Journal  that  I  have  appointed 
to  speak  at  Danville  on  the  22nd  of  Sept., —  the  day  after  Douglas 
speaks  there.  My  recent  experience  shows  that  speaking  at  the 
same  place  the  next  day  after  D.  is  the  very  thing, —  it  is,  in  fact, 
a  concluding  speech  on  him.  Please  show  this  to  Messrs.  Harmon 
and  Beckwith;  and  tell  them  they  must  excuse  me  from  writing 
separate  letters  to  them.  Yours  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

P.  S. — Give  full  notice  to  all  surrounding  country. 

A.  It. 

(Original  owned  by  Dr.  P.  H.  Fithian,  Springfield,  HI.) 


m    i    | 
KNOX  (mfcf™  LINCOLN' 

*'»™— ~ 


THE    LINCOLN    AND    DOUGLAS     MEETING    AT    GALESBURG,     ILLINOIS,    OCTOBER  7,    1858 

The  fifth  debate  between  Lincoln  and  Douglas  was  held  at  Galesburg,  Illinois,  on  October  7 
1858.  The  platform  from  which  they  spoke  was  erected  at  the  end  of  Knox  College.  The  students 
took  a  lively  interest  in  the  contest,  decorating  the  college  gayly  with  flags  and  streamers  Im 
mediately  over  the  heads  of  the  speakers,  extending  across  the  end  of  the  building  was  nlared 
A  large  banner  bearing  the  words :  "  KNOX  COLLEOJE  FOB  LINCOLN  " 


APPENDIX  335 

BLANDINSVILLE,  Oct.  26,  1858. 
A.  SYMPSON,  ESQ.: 

DEAR  SIR:  Since  parting  with  you  this  morning  I  heard  some 
things  which  make  me  believe  that  Edmunds  and  Morrill  will 
spend  this  week  among  the  National  Democrats  trying  to  induce 
them  to  content  themselves  by  voting  for  Jake  Davis,  and  then  to 
vote  for  the  Douglas  candidates  for  Senator  and  Representative. 
Have  this  headed  off,  if  you  can.  Call  Wagley's  attention  to  it, 
and  have  him  and  the  National  Democrat  for  Rep.  to  counteract 
it  as  far  as  they  can.  Yours  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  family  of  Alexander  Sympson,  Lewistown,  HI.) 

SPRINGFIELD,  Dec.  8, 1858. 
H.  D.  SHARPE,  ESQ.  : 

DEAR  SIR  :  Your  very  kind  letter  of  Nov.  9th  was  duly  received. 
I  do  not  know  that  you  expected  or  desired  an  answer ;  but  glancing 
over  the  contents  of  yours  again,  I  am  prompted  to  say  that,  while 
I  desired  the  result  of  the  late  canvass  to  have  been  different,  I 
still  regard  it  as  an  exceeding  small  matter.  I  think  we  have  fairly 
entered  upon  a  durable  struggle  as  to  whether  this  nation  is  to 
ultimately  become  all  slave  or  all  free,  and  though  I  fall  early  in 
the  contest,  it  is  nothing  if  I  shall  have  contributed,  in  the  least 
degree,  to  the  final  rightful  result. 

Respectfully  yours, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  the  family  of  H.  D.  Sharpe,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.) 

SPRINGFIELD,  Dec.  12,  1858. 
ALEXANDER  SYMPSON,  ESQ.  : 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  expect  the  result  of  the  election  went  hard  with 
you.  So  it  did  with  me,  too,  perhaps  not  quite  so  hard  as  you 
may  have  supposed.  I  have  an  abiding  faith  that  we  shall  beat 
them  in  the  long  run.  Step  by  step  the  objects  of  the  leaders  will 
become  too  plain  for  the  people  to  stand  them.  I  write  merely  to 
let  you  know  that  I  am  neither  dead  nor  dying.  Please  give  my 
respects  to  your  good  family,  and  all  inquiring  friends. 

Yours  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 
(Original  owned  by  family  of  Alexander  Sympson,  Lewistown,  HI.) 

A  LEGAL  OPINION  BY  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

The  llth  Section  of  the  Act  of  Congress,  approved  Feb.  11,  1805, 
prescribing  rules  for  the  subdivision  of  Sections  of  land  within 


336  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

the  United  States  system  of  Surveys,  standing  tmrepealed,  in  my 
opinion,  is  binding  on  the  respective  purchasers  of  different  parts 
of  the  same  section,  and  furnishes  the  true  rule  for  Surveyors 
in  establishing  lines  between  them —  That  law,  being  in  force 
at  this  time  each  became  a  purchaser,  becomes  a  condition  of  the 
purchase. 

And,  by  that  law,  I  think  the  true  rule  for  dividing  into  quarters, 
any  interior  Section,  or  Sections,  which  is  not  fractional,  is  to  run 
straight  lines  through  the  Section  from  the  opposite  quarter  sec 
tion  corners,  fixing  the  point  where  such  straight  lines  cross,  or 
intersect  each  other,  as  the  middle  or  center  of  the  Section. 

Nearly,  perhaps  quite,  all  the  original  surveys  are  to  some  ex 
tent,  erroneous,  and  in  some  of  the  Sections,  greatly  so.  In  each 
of  the  latter,  it  is  obvious  that  a  more  equitable  mode  of  division 
than  the  above,  might  be  adopted ;  but  as  error  is  infinitely  various 
perhaps  no  better  single  rules  can  be  prescribed. 

At  all  events  I  think  the  above  has  been  prescribed  by  the  com 
petent  authority.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Springfield,  Jany.  6,  1859. 

(Original  owned  by  L.  A.  Enos,  Springfield,  111.) 

Hawkins  Taylor. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  Sept.  6,  1859. 
HAWKINS  TAYLOR,  ESQ. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  Yours  of  the  3d  is  just  received.  There  is  some 
mistake  about  my  expected  attendance  of  the  U.  S.  Court  in  your 
city  on  the  3d  Tuesday  of  this  month.  I  have  had  no  thought  of 
being  there.  It  is  bad  to  be  poor.  I  shall  go  to  the  wall  for  bread 
and  meat,  if  I  neglect  my  business  this  year  as  well  as  last.  It 
would  please  me  much  to  see  the  City,  and  good  people,  of  Keokuk, 
but  for  this  year  it  is  little  less  than  an  impossibility.  I  am  con 
stantly  receiving  invitations  which  I  am  compelled  to  decline.  I 
was  pressingly  urged  to  go  to  Minnesota;  and  I  now  have  two 
invitations  to  go  to  Ohio.  These  last  are  prompted  by  Douglas 
going  there;  and  I  am  really  tempted  to  make  a  flying  trip  to 
Columbus  and  Cincinnati. 

I  do  hope  you  will  have  no  serious  trouble  in  Iowa.  What  thinks 
Grimes  about  it?  I  have  not  known  him  to  be  mistaken  about 
an  election  in  Iowa.  Present  my  respects  to  Col.  Carter,  and  any 
other  friends;  and  believe  me  Yours  truly, 

A.   LINCOLN. 

(Original  in  the  Collection  of  Hist.  Dept.  of  Iowa.  Loaned  by 
the  Hon.  Chas.  Aldrich,  Des  Moines,  Iowa.) 

MARCH  10,  1860. 

As  to  your  kind  wishes  for  myself,  allow  me  to  say  I  cannot  entei 
the  ring  on  the  money  basis — first,  because  in  the  main  it  is 


APPENDIX  337 

wrong ;  and  secondly,  I  have  not  and  cannot  get  the  money.  I  say 
in  the  main  the  use  of  money  is  wrong;  but  for  certain  objects  in 
a  political  contest,  the  use  of  some,  is  both  right,  and  indispensa 
ble.  With  me,  as  with  yourself,  this  long  struggle  has  been  one  of 
great  pecuniary  loss.  I  now  distinctly  say  this —  If  you  shall  be 
appointed  a  delegate  to  Chicago,  I  will  furnish  one  hundred  dollars 
to  bear  the  expenses  of  the  trip. 

Present  my  respects  to  Genl.  Lane;  and  say  to  him,  I  shall  be 
pleased  to  hear  from  him  at  any  time. 

Your  friend,  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Extract  from  letter  to  Kansas  delegate.  Original  in  possession 
of  J.  W.  Weik,  Greencastle,  Ind.) 

Hawkins  Taylor. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  April  21,  1860. 
HAWKINS  TAYLOR,  ESQ. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  Yours  of  the  15th  is  just  received.  It  surprises 
me  that  you  have  written  twice,  without  receiving  an  answer.  I 
have  answered  all  I  ever  received  from  you;  and  certainly  one 
since  my  return  from  the  East. 

Opinions  here,  as  to  the  prospect  of  Douglas  being  nominated, 
are  quite  conflicting — some  very  confident  he  will,  and  others  that 
he  will  not  be —  I  think  his  nomination  possible;  but  that  the 
chances  are  against  him. 

I  am  glad  there  is  a  prospect  of  your  party  passing  this  way 
to  Chicago.  Wishing  to  make  your  visit  here  as  pleasant  as  we 
can,  we  wish  you  to  notify  us  as  soon  as  possible,  whether  you 
come  this  way,  how  many,  and  when  you  will  arrive. 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  in  the  Collection  of  Hist.  Dept.  of  Iowa.  Loaned  by 
the  Hon.  Chas.  Aldrich,  Des  Moines,  Iowa.) 

Hon.  C.  B.  Smith. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  May  26,  1860. 
HON.  C.  B.  SMITH— 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Yours  of  the  21st,  was  duly  received ;  but  I  have 
found  no  time  until  now,  to  say  a  word  in  the  way  of  answer.  I 
am,  indeed,  much  indebted  to  Indiana;  and,  as  my  home  friends 
tell  me,  much  to  you  personally.  Your  saying  you  no  longer  con 
sider  la.  a  doubtful  state  is  very  gratifying.  The  thing  starts 
well  everywhere —  too  well,  I  almost  fear,  to  last.  But  we  are  in, 
and  stick  or  go  through,  must  be  the  word. 
Let  me  hear  from  Indiana  occasionally. 

Your  friend,  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Werter  G.  Betty,  Norwood,  Ohio.) 
(22) 


338  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  June  4,  1860. 
HON.  GEORGE  ASHMUN  : 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  It  seems  as  if  the  question  whether  my  first 
name  is  "  Abraham "  or  "  Abram "  will  never  be  settled.  It  is 
"  Abraham,"  and  if  the  letter  of  acceptance  is  not  yet  in  print,  you 
may,  if  you  think  fit,  have  my  signature  thereto  printed  "  Abraham 
Lincoln."  Exercise  your  judgment  about  this.  Yours  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(From  ''Springfield,  Mass.,  1836-1886,"  by  Mason  A.  Green.) 

W.  B.  Miner. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  Aug.  11,  1860. 
W.  B.  MINER,  ESQ. 

DEAR  SIR  :  Yours  of  the  Yth  with  newspaper  slip  attached  is  re 
ceived;  and  for  which  I  thank  you.  Yours  truly, 

A.   LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Hist.  Dept.  of  Iowa.  Loaned  by  the  Hon. 
Charles  Aldrich,  curator,  Des  Moines,  Iowa.) 


HON.  JOHN 


Private 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.  Aug.  31,  1860 

HON.  JOHN > 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Yours  of  the  27th  is  duly  received —  It  consists 
almost  exclusively  of  a  historical  detail  of  some  local  troubles, 
among  some  of  our  friends  in  Pennsylvania;  and  I  suppose  its 
object  is  to  guard  me  against  forming  a  prejudice  against  Mr.  Mc- 

C .     I  have  not  heard  near  so  much  upon  that  subject  as  you 

probably  suppose;  and  I  am  slow  to  listen  to  criminations  among 
friends,  and  never  expose  their  quarrels  on  either  side —  My  sin 
cere  wish  is  that  both  sides  will  allow  by-gones  to  be  by-gones,  and 
look  to  the  present  and  future  only. 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.   LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Chas.  Eoberts,  Esq.,  Philadelphia,  Pa.) 

Hon.  N.  Sargent. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  Sept.  20,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  kind  letter  of  the  16th  was  received  yes 
terday;  have  just  time  to  acknowledge  its  receipt,  and  to  say  I 
thank  you  for  it;  and  that  I  shall  be  pleased  to  hear  from  you 
again  whenever  it  is  convenient  for  you  to  write. 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  C.  F.  Gunther,  Chicago,  HI.) 


APPENDIX  339 

Win.  Herndon. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  October  10,  I860. 

DEAR  WILLIAM  :  I  cannot  give  you  details,  but  it  is  entirely  cer 
tain  that  Pennsylvania  and  Indiana  have  gone  Republican  very 
largely.  Pennsylvania  25,000,  and  Indiana  5,000  to  10,000.  Ohio 
of  course  is  safe.  Yours  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 
(From  Herndon's  "  Life  of  Lincoln."  Permission  of  Jesse  Weik.) 

(Private  and  Confidential.) 
Major  David  Hunter,  Fort  Leavenworth,  Kansas. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILLINOIS,  October  26,  1860. 
MAJOR  DAVID  HUNTER: 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  Your  very  kind  letter  of  the  20th  was  duly  re 
ceived,  for  which  please  accept  my  thanks.  I  have  another  letter, 
from  a  writer  unknown  to  me,  saying  the  officers  of  the  army  at 
Fort  Kearny  have  determined,  in  case  of  Republican  success  at  the 
approaching  presidential  election,  to  take  themselves,  and  the  arms 
at  that  point,  South,  for  the  purpose  of  resistance  to  the  govern 
ment.  While  I  think  there  are  many  chances  to  one  that  this  is  a 
humbug,  it  occurs  to  me  that  any  real  movement  of  this  sort  in 
the  army  would  leak  out  and  become  known  to  you.  In  such  case, 
if  it  would  not  be  unprofessional  or  dishonorable  (of  which  you  are 
to  be  judge),  I  shall  be  much  obliged  if  you  will  apprise  me  of  it. 
Yours  very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  War  Records  Commission.) 

(Confidential.) 
Major  David  Hunter. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILLINOIS,  December  22,  1860. 
MAJOR  DAVID  HUNTER  : 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  am  much  obliged  by  the  receipt  of  yours  of 
the  18th.  The  most  we  can  do  now  is  to  watch  events,  and  be  as  well 
prepared  as  possible  for  any  turn  things  may  take.  If  the  forts 
fall,  my  judgment  is  that  they  are  to  be  retaken.  When  I  shall  de 
termine  definitely  my  time  of  starting  to  Washington,  I  will  notify 
you.  Yours  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 
(Original  owned  by  War  Records  Commission.) 

Hon.  I.  N.  Morris,  Quincy,  HI. 
Confidential. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  Dec.  24,  1860. 
HON.  I.  N.  MORRIS, 
MY  DEAR  Sm :    Without  supposing  that  you  and  I  are  any  nearer 


340  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

together,  politically  than  heretofore,  allow  me  to  tender  you  my 
sincere   thanks   for   your   Union   resolution,   expressive   of   views 
upon  which  we  never  were,  and,  I  trust,  never  will  be  at  variance. 
Yours  very  truly,  A.    LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Thomas  L.  Morris,  Quinoey,  111.) 


Hon.  Postmaster-General,  Washington,  D.  0. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  March  12,  1861. 
HON.  POST-MASTER  GENERAL, 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  understand  that  the  outgoing  and  incoming 
Representatives  for  the  Cleveland  District,  unite  in  recommending 
Edwin  Cowles  for  P.  M.  in  that  City;  that  Senator  Wade  has  con 
sidered  the  case  and  declines  to  interfere ;  and  that  no  other  M.  C. 
interferes.  Under  these  circumstances,  if  correct,  I  think  Mr. 
Cowles  better  be  appointed. 

Yours  truly, 

A.   LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Hist.  Dept.  of  Iowa.  Loaned  by  the  Hon. 
Charles  Aldrich,  curator,  Des  Moines,  Iowa.) 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  March  13,  1861. 
HON.  P.  M.  G. 

DEAR  SIR:  The  bearer  of  this,  Mr.  C.  T.  Hempstow,  is  a  Vir 
ginian  who  wishes  to  get,  for  his  son,  a  small  place  in  your  Dept. 
I  think  Virginia  should  be  heard,  in  such  cases. 

LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Hist.  Dept.  of  Iowa.  Loaned  by  the  Hon. 
Charles  Aldrich,  curator,  Des  Moines,  Iowa.) 


WASHINGTON,  March  30,  1861. 
DEAR  STUART: 

Cousin  Lizzie  shows  me  your  letter  of  the  27th.  The  question  of 
giving  her  the  Springfield  Post-office  troubles  me.  You  see  I  have 
already  appointed  William  Jayne  a  territorial  governor  and  Judge 
Trumbull's  brother  to  a  land-office — Will  it  do  for  me  to  go  on  and 
justify  the  declaration  that  Trumbull  and  I  have  divided  out  all 
the  offices  among  our  relatives?  Dr.  Wallace  you  know,  is  needy, 
and  looks  to  me ;  and  I  personally  owe  him  much. — 

I  see  by  the  papers,  a  vote  is  to  be  taken  as  to  the  Post-office. 
Could  you  not  set  up  Lizzie  and  beat  them  all  ?  She,  being  here, 


APPENDIX  341 

need  know  nothing  of  it,  so  therefore  there  would  be  no  indelicacy 
on  her  part — 

Yours,  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 
(Original  owned  by  Mr.  Stuart  Brown,  Springfield,  111.) 

The  originals  of  the  telegrams  and  letters  which  follow  are  in  the 
collection  of  telegrams  sent  by  the  War  Department  during  the 
Civil  War,  unless  otherwise  noted.  A  few  of  them  appear  in  the 
official  War  Records,  but  none  of  them  are  to  be  found  in  the  Com 
plete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln  edited  by  Nicolay  and  Hay,  and 
the  most  of  them  have  never  before  been  printed.  The  telegrams 
have  been  compared  with  the  originals  by  the  Record  and  Pension 
Office. 

WASHINGTON,  May  22,  1861. 

GOVERNOR  E.  D.  MORGAN,  Albany,  N.  Y. : 

I  wish  to  see  you  face  to  face  to  clear  these  difficulties  about  for 
warding  troops  from  New  York. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  May  27,  1861. 
COL.  W.  A.  BARTLETT,  New  York: 

The  Naval  Brigade  was  to  go  to  Fort  Monroe  without  trouble  to 
the  Government,  and  must  so  go  or  not  at  all. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVH  MANSION,  June  13,  1861. 
HON.  SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  There  is,  it  seems,  a  regiment  in  Massachusetts 
commanded  by  Fletcher  Webster,  and  which  Hon.  Daniel  Web 
ster's  old  friends  very  much  wish  to  get  into  the  service.  If  it 
can  be  received  with  the  approval  of  your  Department  and  the 
consent  of  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts  I  shall  indeed  be  much 
gratified.  Give  Mr.  Ashman  a  chance  to  explain  fully. 

Yours,  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 
(From  War  Records,  Vol.  L,  Series  III.) 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  June  13,  1861. 
HON.  SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  think  it  is  entirely  safe  to  accept  a  fifth  regi 
ment  from  Michigan,  and  with  your  approbation  I  should  say  a 
regiment  presented  by  Col.  T.  B.  W.  Stockton,  ready  for  service 


342 


LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 


within  two  weeks  from  now,  will  be  received.    Look  at  Colonel 
Stockton's  testimonials.  Yours,  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(From  War  Kecords,  Vol.  L,  Series  III.) 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  June  17, 1861. 
HON.  SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  With  your  concurrence,  and  that  of  the  Governor 
of  Indiana  I  am  in  favor  of  accepting  into  what  we  call  the  three 
years'  service  any  number  not  exceeding  four  additional  regi 
ments  from  that  State.  Probably  they  should  come  from  the  tri 
angular  region  between  the  Ohio  and  Wabash  Eivers,  including 
my  own  old  boyhood  home.  Please  see  Hon.  C.  M.  Allen,  Speaker 
of  the  Indiana  House  of  Representatives,  and  unless  you  perceive 
good  reasons  to  the  contrary,  draw  up  an  order  for  him  according 
to  the  above.  Yours,  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(From  War  Records,  Vol.  L,  Series  III.) 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  June  17, 1861. 
HON.  SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  With  your  concurrence,  and  that  of  the  Gov 
ernor  of  Ohio,  I  am  in  favor  of  receiving  into  what  we  call  the 
three  years'  service  any  number  not  exceeding  six  additional  regi 
ments  from  that  State,  unless  you  perceive  good  reasons  to  the 
contrary.  Please  see  Hon.  John  A.  Gurley,  who  bears  this,  and 
make  an  order  corresponding  with  the  above. 

Yours,  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 
(From  War  Records,  Vol.  L,  Series  in.) 


NEW  YORK,  June  17, 1861. 
His  EXCELLENCY  THE  PRESIDENT. 

DEAR  SIR:  The  Hon.  Robert  Dale  Owen  is  authorized  to  pre 
sent  for  your  consideration  our  cavalry  regiment  being  now  raised 
upon  the  border.  It  will  be  composed  of  the  best  material  both 
in  men  and  horses.  Mr.  Owen  will  present  to  you  the  peculiar 
claims  and  condition  of  the  border,  differing  from  the  border  of 
any  other  State.  I  trust  Your  Excellency  may  find  it  consistent 
with  your  views  and  the  public  interest  to  accept  of  this  regiment. 

Very  respectfully, 

O.  P.  MORTON, 


APPENDIX  343 

(Indorsement. ) 

June  22,  1861. 

If  agreeable  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  I  approve  the  receiving  one 
of  the  regiments  already  accepted  from  Indiana,  organized  and 
equipped  as  a  cavalry  regiment.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(From  War  Records,  Vol.  I.,  Series  III.) 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  June  29, 1861. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Kentucky  Delegation  who  are  for  the  Union: 

I  somewhat  wish  to  authorize  my  friend,  Jesse  Bayles,  to  raise 
a  Kentucky  regiment,  but  I  do  not  wish  to  do  it  without  your  con 
sent.  If  you  consent,  please  write  so  at  the  bottom  of  this. 

Yours,  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 
We  consent. 

R.  MALLORY. 
H.  GRIDER. 
G.  W.  DUNLAP. 
J.  S.  JACKSON. 
C.  A.  WICKLIFFE. 

August  5, 1861. 

I  repeat,  I  would  like  for  Col.  Bayles  to  raise  a  regiment  of  cav 
alry  whenever  the  Union  men  of  Kentucky  desire  or  consent  to  it. 

A.  LINCOLN. 
(From  War  Records,  Vol.  I.,  Series  HI.) 

Secretary  of  interior,  Washington,  D.  C. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  July  6,  1861. 
HON.  SEC.  OF  INTERIOR, 

MY  BEAR  SIR:  Please  ask  the  Comr.  of  Indian  Affairs,  and  of  the 
Oen'l  Land  Office  to  come  with  you,  and  see  me  at  once.  I  want 
the  assistance  of  all  of  you  in  overhauling  the  list  of  appoint 
ments  a  little  before  I  send  them  to  the  Senate. 

Yours  truly, 

A.   LINCOLN. 
(Original  owned  by  Werter  G.  Betty,  Norwood,  Ohio.) 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  24, 1861. 

THE  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

SIR:  Together  with  the  regiments  of  three  years'  volunteers 
which  the  Government  already  has  in  service  in  your  State,  enough 
to  make  eight  in  all,  if  tendered  in  a  reasonable  time,  will  be 
accepted,  the  new  regiments  to  be  taken  as  far  as  convenient,  from 


344  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

the  three  months'  men  and  officers  just  discharged,  and  to  be  or 
ganized,  equipped,  and  sent  forward  as  fast  as  single  regiments 
are  ready,  on  the  same  terms  as  were  those  already  in  the  service 
from  that  State.  Your  obedient  servant, 

A.   LINCOLN. 

(Indorsement.) 

This  order  is  entered  in  the  War  Department,  and  the  Governor 
of  New  Jersey  is  authorized  to  furnish  the  regiments  with  wagons 
and  horses.  S.  CAMERON, 

Secretary  of  War. 

(From  War  Records,  Vol.  I.,  Series  in.) 


Hon.  James  Pollock. 

WASHINGTON,  Aug.  15, 1861. 
HON.  JAMES  POLLOCK, 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  You  must  make  a  job  for  the  bearer  of  this — 
make  a  job  of  it  with  the  collector  and  have  it  done.  You  can  do 
it  for  me  and  you  must.  Yours  as  ever, 

A.   LINCOLN. 
(Original  owned  by  Chas.  Roberts,  Esq.,  Philadelphia,  Pa.) 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  October  4, 1861. 

HONORABLE  SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  Please  see  Mr.  Walker,  well  vouched  as  a  Union 
man  and  son-in-law  of  Governor  Morehead,  and  pleading  for  his 
release.  I  understand  the  Kentucky  arrests  were  not  made  by  spe 
cial  direction  from  here  and  I  am  willing  if  you  are  that  any  of 
the  parties  may  be  released  when  James  Guthrie  and  James  Speed 
think  they  should  be.  Yours  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(From  War  Records,  Vol.  II.,  Series  III.) 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  Dec.  31,  1861. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  HUNTER: 

DEAR  Sra:  Yours  of  the  23d  is  received,  and  I  am  constrained 
to  say  it  is  difficult  to  answer  so  ugly  a  letter  in  good  temper.  I 
am,  as  you  intimate,  losing  much  of  the  great  confidence  I  placed 
in  you,  not  from  any  act  or  omission  of  yours  touching  the  public 
service,  up  to  the  time  you  were  sent  to  Leavenworth,  but  from  the 
flood  of  grumbling  despatches  and  letters  I  have  seen  from  you 
since.  I  knew  you  were  being  ordered  to  Leavenworth  at  the  time 
it  was  done ;  and  I  aver  that  with  as  tender  a  regard  for  your  honor 


APPENDIX  345 

and  your  sensibilities  as  I  had  for  my  own,  it  never  occurred  to 
me  that  you  were  being  "  humiliated,  insulted  and  disgraced ; " 
nor  have  I,  up  to  this  day,  heard  an  intimation  that  you  have  been 
wronged,  coming  from  any  one  but  yourself — No  one  has  blamed 
you  for  the  retrograde  movement  from  Springfield,  nor  for  the  in 
formation  you  gave  General  Cameron;  and  this  you  could  readily 
understand,  if  it  were  not  for  your  unwarranted  assumption  that 
the  ordering  you  to  Leavenworth  must  necessarily  have  been  done 
as  a  punishment  for  some  fault.  I  thought  then,  and  think  yet,  the 
position  assigned  to  you  is  as  responsible,  and  as  honorable,  as  that 
assigned  to  Buell — I  know  that  General  McClellan  expected  more 
important  results  from  it.  My  impression  is  that  at  the  time  you 
were  assigned  to  the  new  Western  Department,  it  had  not  been 
determined  to  replace  General  Sherman  in  Kentucky;  but  of  this 
I  am  not  certain,  because  the  idea  that  a  command  in  Kentucky 
was  very  desirable,  and  one  in  the  farther  West  undesirable,  had 
never  occurred  to  me — You  constantly  speak  of  being  placed  in 
command  of  only  3,000 — Now  tell  me,  is  this  not  mere  impatience  ? 
Have  you  not  known  all  the  while  that  you  are  to  command  four 
or  five  times  that  many  ? 

I  have  been,  and  am  sincerely  your  friend ;  and  if,  as  such,  I  dare 
to  make  a  suggestion,  I  would  say  you  are  adopting  the  best  possi* 
ble  way  to  ruin  yourself.  "  Act  well  your  part,  there  all  the  honor 
lies."  He  who  does  something  at  the  head  of  one  Regiment,  will 
eclipse  him  who  dees  nothing  at  the  head  of  a  hundred. 

Your  friend,  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

On  the  outside  of  the  envelope  in  which  this  letter  was  found, 
General  Hunter  had  written: 

The  President's  reply  to  my  "  ugly  letter."  This  lay  on  his  table 
a  month  after  it  was  written,  and  when  finally  sent  was  by  a  special 
conveyance,  with  the  direction  that  it  was  only  to  be  given  to  me 
when  I  was  in  a  good  humor. 

(Original  owned  by  War  Records  Commission.) 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,  WASHINGTON, 
i  January  20,  1862. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  GEORGE  B.  MCCLELLAN,  Commanding  Armies  of 
the  United  States: 

You  or  any  officer  you  may  designate  will  in  your  discretion  sus 
pend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  so  far  as  may  relate  to  Major  Chase, 
lately  of  the  Engineer  Corps  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States, 
now  alleged  to  be  guilty  of  treasonable  practices  against  this 
Government.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

By  the  President, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

(From  War  Records,  Vol.  II.,  Serie%  in.) 


346  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

WASHINGTON,  April  3,  1862. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  HALLECK,  Saint  Louis,  Mo. : 

Your  dispatch  in  regard  to  Colonel  Barrett's  regiment  is  re« 
ceived.  Use  your  own  judgment  in  the  matter.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Please  send  above  by  order  of  the  President.        JOHN  HAY, 

Secretary. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  9,  1862. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  HALLECK,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

If  the  rigor  of  the  confinement  of  Magoffin  at  Alton  is  endanger 
ing  his  life,  or  materially  impairing  his  health,  I  wish  it  mitigated 
as  far  as  it  can  be  consistently  with  his  safe  detention. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

Please  send  above  by  order  of  the  President.  JOHN  HAY. 

Postmaster  General,  Washington,  D.  C. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  April  24,  1862. 

HON.  POSTMASTER  GENERAL. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  The  Member  of  Congress  from  the  District  in 
cluding  Tiffin,  O.,  calls  on  me  about  the  Post-Master  at  that  place. 
I  believe  I  turned  over  a  despatch  to  you  from  some  persons  there, 
asking  a  suspension,  so  as  for  them  to  be  heard,  or  something  of 
the  sort.  If  nothing,  or  nothing  amounting  to  anything,  has  been 
done,  I  think  the  suspension  might  now  be  suspended,  and  the 
commission  go  forward.  Yours  truly, 

A.   LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Hist.  Dept.  of  Iowa.  Loaned  by  Hon.  Chas. 
Aldrich,  curator,  Des  Moines,  Iowa.) 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  29,  1862. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MOCLELLAN  : 

Would  it  derange  or  embarrass  your  operations  if  I  were  to 
appoint  Captain  Charles  Griffin,  a  brigadier-general  of  volun 
teers?  Please  answer.  A.  LINCOLN. 

SPEECH  TO  THE  12TH  INDIANA  EEGIMENT. 

Soldiers  of  the  Twelfth  Indiana  Eegiment:  It  has  not  been 
customary  heretofore,  nor  will  it  be  hereafter,  for  me  to  say  some 
thing  to  every  regiment  passing  in  review.  It  occurs  too  frequently 
for  me  to  have  speeches  ready  on  all  occasions.  i.s  you  have  paid 


APPENDIX  347 

such  a  mark  of  respect  to  the  Chief  Magistrate,  it  appears  that  I 
should  say  a  word  or  two  in  reply. 

Your  Colonel  has  thought  fit,  on  his  own  account  and  in  your 
name,  to  say  that  you  are  satisfied  with  the  manner  in  which  I 
have  performed  my  part  in  the  difficulties  which  have  surrounded 
the  nation.  For  your  kind  expressions  I  am  extremely  grateful, 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  I  assure  you  that  the  nation  is  more  in 
debted  to  you,  and  such  as  you,  than  to  me.  It  is  upon  the  brave 
hearts  and  strong  arms  of  the  people  of  the  country  that  our  re 
liance  has  been  placed  in  support  of  free  government  and  free 
institutions. 

For  the  part  which  you  and  the  brave  army  of  which  you  are 
a  part  have,  under  Providence,  performed  in  this  great  struggle, 
I  tender  more  thanks — greatest  thanks  that  can  be  possibly  due — 
and  especially  to  this  regiment,  which  has  been  the  subject  of 
good  report.  The  thanks  of  the  nation  will  follow  you,  and  may 
God's  blessing  rest  upon  you  now  and  forever.  I  hope  that  upon 
your  return  to  your  homes  you  will  find  your  friends  and  loved 
ones  well  and  happy.  I  bid  you  farewell. 

(From  New  York  "  Evening  Post,"  May  15,  1862.) 


(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C.,  June  5,  1862—9  1-2  p.  m. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  HALLECK: 

I  have  received  the  following  dispatch  from  General  McClellan 
which  I  transmit  for  your  consideration.  A.   LINCOLN. 


(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  7,  1862. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MCCLELLAN  : 

Your  dispatch  about  Chattanooga  and  Dalton  was  duly  received 
and  sent  to  General  Halleck.  I  have  just  received  the  following 
answer  from  him.  We  have  Fort  Pillow,  Randolph  and  Memphis. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  28,  1862. 

GOVERNOR  O.  P.  MORTON,,  Indianapolis,  Ind. : 

Your  dispatch  of  to-day  is  just  received.  I  have  no  recollection 
of  either  John  R.  Cravens,  or  Cyrus  M.  Allen,  having  been  named 
to  me  for  appointment  under  the  tax  law.  The  latter  particularly 
has  been  my  friend,  and  I  am  sorry  to  learn  that  he  is  not  yours. 
No  appointment  has  been  or  will  be  made  by  me  for  the  purpose 
of  stabbing  you.  A.  LINCOLN. 


348  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  Crrr,  D.  C.,  July  3,  1862. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  Fort  Monroe: 

What  news  if  any  have  you  from  General  Burnside? 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  28, 1862. 

GOVERNORS  OF  ALL  LOYAL  STATES: 

It  would  be  of  great  service  here  for  us  to  know,  as  fully  as  you 
can  tell,  what  progress  is  made  and  making  in  recruiting  for  old 
regiments  in  your  State.  Also  about  what  day  the  first  regiment 
can  move  with  you,  what  the  second,  what  the  third  and  so  on? 
This  information  is  important  to  us  in  making  calculations.  Please 
give  it  as  promptly  and  accurately  as  you  can.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  12,  1862. 

GOVERNOR  CURTIN,  Harrisburg,  Penn.: 

It  is  very  important  for  some  regiments  to  arrive  here  at  once. 
What  lack  you  from  us?  What  can  we  do  to  expedite  matters? 
Answer.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  14, 1862. 

Officer  in  charge  of  Confederate  prisoners  at  Camp  Chase,  Ohio : 

It  is  believed  that  a  Dr.  J.  J.  Williams  is  a  prisoner  in  your 
charge,  and  if  so  tell  him  his  wife  is  here  and  allow  him  to  tele 
graph  to  her.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  August  15,  1862. 

HON.  JAMES  DIXON,  Hartford,  Conn.: 
Come  here.  A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION. 
WASHINGTON,  August  15,  1862. 

Officer  having  prisoners  in  charge  at  Camp  Douglass,  near  Chi 
cago,  111.: 

Is  there  a  prisoner  Dr.  Joseph  J.  Williams  ?  and  if  so  tell  him  his 
rtfe  is  here  and  allow  him  to  telegraph  her.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  349 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  August  16,  1862. 

HON.  HIRAM  BARNEY,  New  York: 

Mrs.  L.  has  $1,000  for  the  benefit  of  the  hospitals  and  she  will 
be  obliged,  and  send  the  pay  if  you  will  be  so  good  as  to  select 
and  send  her  $200  worth  of  good  lemons  and  $100  worth  of  good 
oranges.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  August  18,  1862. 
S.  B.  MOODY,  Springfield,  HI.: 

Which  do  you  prefer  commissary  or  quartermaster  ?    If  appointed 
it  must  be  without  conditions.  A.   LINCOLN. 

Operator  please  send  above  for  President.  JOHN  HAY. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  20,  1862. 

GOVERNOR  ANDREW,  Boston,  Mass.: 

Neither  the  Secretary  of  War  nor  I  know  anything  except  what 
you  tell  us  about  the  "  published  official  document "  you  mention. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  21,  1862. 

MRS.  MARGARET  PRESTON,  Lexington,  Ky.: 

Your  dispatch  to  Mrs.  L.  received  yesterday.  She  is  not  well. 
Owing  to  her  early  and  strong  friendship  for  you,  I  would  gladly 
oblige  you,  but  I  cannot  absolutely  do  it.  If  General  Boyle  and 
Hon.  James  Guthrie,  one  or  both,  in  their  discretion,  see  fit  to 
give  you  the  passes,  this  is  my  authority  to  them  for  doing  so. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  21, 1862. 

GILLET  F.  WATSON,  Williamsburg,  Ya.: 

Your  telegram  in  regard  to  the  lunatic  asylum  has  been  re 
ceived.  It  is  certainly  a  case  of  difficulty,  but  if  you  cannot  re 
main,  I  cannot  conceive  who  under  my  authority  can.  Remain  as 
long  as  you  safely  can,  and  provide  as  well  as  you  can  for  the 
poor  inmates  of  the  institution. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


350  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

August  27,  1862 — 4.30  p.  m. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BURNSIDE,  Falmouth,  Va.: 
Do  you  hear  anything  from  Pope  ?  A.   LINCOLN. 

August  28,  1862—2.40  p.  m. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  BURNSIDE,  Falmouth,  Va.: 
Any  news  from  General  Pope?  A.   LINCOLN. 

August  28,  1862—2.40  p.  m. 
COLONEL  HAUPT,  Alexandria,  Va.: 

Yours  received.  How  do  you  learn  that  the  rebel  forces  at 
Manassas  are  large  and  commanded  by  several  of  their  best  gen 
erals?  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  29,  1862—2.30  p.  m. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BURNSIDE,  Falmouth,  Va.: 

Any  further  news?  Does  Colonel  Devin  mean  that  sound  of 
firing  was  heard  in  direction  of  Warrenton  as  stated,  or  in  direc 
tion  of  Warrenton  Junction?  A.  LINCOLN. 

WA.R  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  30,  1862—10.20  a.  m. 

COLONEL  HAUPT,  Alexandria,  Va.: 
What  news?  A.   LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
August  30,  1862—3.50  p.  m. 
COLONEL  HAUPT,  Alexandria,  Va.: 
Please  send  me  the  latest  news.  A.   LINCOLN. 

August  30,  1862—8.35  p.  m. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  BANKS,  Manassas  Junction,  Va.: 
Please  tell  me  what  news.  A.   LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  17,  1862. 
GOVERNOR  O.  P.  MORTON,  Indianapolis,  Ind. : 

I  have  received  your  dispatch  in  regard  to  recommendations  of 
General  Wright.  I  have  received  no  such  dispatch  from  him,  at 
least  not  that  I  can  remember.  I  refer  yours  for  General  Hal- 
leck's  consideration.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  351 

Telegraph  office  please  transmit  as  above  and  oblige  the  Presi 
dent.  JOHN  HAY. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  September  18, 1862. 

HONORABLE  SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

SIR  :    The  attached  paper  is  said  to  contain  a  list  of  civilians  im 
prisoned  at  Salisbury,  N.  C.    Please  preserve  it. 

Yours,  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 
(From  War  Kecords,  Vol.  IV.,  Series  in.) 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  20,  1862. 

GENERAL  KETCHUM,  Springfield,  HI.: 

How  many  regiments  are  there  in  Illinois,  ready  for  service 
but  for  the  want  of  arms?  How  many  arms  have  you  there  ready 
for  distribution? 

A.   LINCOLN. 


McCLELLAN's  HEADQUARTERS,   October  3,  1862. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  HALLECK. 

General  Stuart,  of  the  rebel  army,  has  sent  in  a  few  of  our 
prisoners  under  a  flag  of  truce,  paroled  with  terms  to  prevent 
their  fighting  the  Indians,  and  evidently  seeking  to  commit  us 
to  their  right  to  parole  our  prisoners  in  that  way.  My  inclina 
tion  is  to  send  the  prisoners  back  with  a  distinct  notice  that  we 
will  recognize  no  paroles  given  to  our  prisoners  by  rebels  as  ex 
tending  beyond  the  prohibition  against  fighting  them,  yet  I  wish 
your  opinion  upon  it  based  both  upon  the  general  law  and  our 
cartel.  I  wish  to  avoid  violations  of  law  and  bad  faith.  Answer  as 
quickly  as  possible,  as  the  thing  if  done  at  all  should  be  done  at 
once.  A.  LINCOLN, 

President. 

(From  War  Records,  Vol.  IV.,  Series  III.) 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  7,  1862. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MCCLELLAN,  Headquarters  Army  of  the  Potomac: 

You  wish  to  see  your  family  and  I  wish  to  oblige  you.  It  might 
be  left  to  your  own  discretion,  certainly  so,  if  Mrs.  M.  could  meet 
you  here  at  Washington.  A.  LINCOLN. 


352  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  9,  1862. 

MORTON  McMiCHAEL,  Office  "North  American,"  Philadelphia,  Pa.: 
The  letter  alluded  to  in  your  dispatch  of  yesterday  has  not  been 
received.  A.   LINCOLN. 

Operator  please  send  above  and  oblige.  A.  L. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  0.,  October  12,  1862. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  CURTIS,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

Would  the  completion  of  the  railroad  some  distance  further  in 
the  direction  of  Springfield,  Mo.,  be  of  any  military  advantage  to 
you?  Please  answer.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C.,  October  16, 1862. 

GOVERNOR  PIERPOINT,  Wheeling,  Va.: 

Your  dispatch  of  to-day  received.  I  am  very  sorry  to  have  of 
fended  you.  I  appointed  the  collector  as  I  thought,  on  your  writ 
ten  recommendation,  and  the  assessor  also  with  your  testimony  of 
worthiness,  although  I  know  you  preferred  a  different  man.  I 
will  examine  to-morrow  whether  I  am  mistaken  in  this. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  21,  1862. 

GENERAL  JAMESON,  Upper  Stillwater,  Me.: 

How  is  your  health  now  ?  Do  you  or  not  wish  Lieut.  R.  P.  Craw 
ford  to  be  restored  to  his  office?  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  23,  1862. 

HON.  F.  H.  PIERPOINT,  Wheeling,  Va.: 

Tour  letter  of  the  17th  just  received.  When  you  come  to  Wash 
ington,  I  shall  be  pleased  to  show  you  the  record  upon  which  we 
acted.  Nevertheless  answer  this,  distinctly  saying  you  wish  Rosa 
and  Ritcher,  or  any  other  two  you  do  really  want  and  they  shall  bo 
appointed.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  23,  1862. 
BEN.  FIELD,  ESQ.,  Astor  House: 

Your  letter  of  20th  received.  Think  your  request  cannot  safely 
be  granted.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  353 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  29,  1862. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MCCLELLAN  : 

Your  dispatches  of  night  before  last,  yesterday,  and  last  night 
all  received.  I  am  much  pleased  with  the  movement  of  the  army. 
When  you  get  entirely  across  the  river  let  me  know.  What  do  you 
know  of  the  enemy?  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  30,  1862. 
GOVERNOR  CURTIN,  Harrisburg: 

By  some  means  I  have  not  seen  your  dispatch  of  the  27th  about 
Order  No.  154,  till  this  moment.  I  now  learn  what  I  knew  nothing 
of  before,  that  the  history  of  the  order  is  as  follows,  to-wit:  Gen 
eral  McClellan  telegraphed  asking  General  Halleck  to  have  the 
order  made,  General  Halleck  went  to  the  Secretary  of  War  with 
it,  stating  his  approval  of  the  plan.  The  Secretary  assented  and 
General  Halleck  wrote  the  order.  It  was  a  military  question  which 
the  Secretary  supposed  the  generals  understood  better  than  he. 
I  wish  I  could  see  Governor  Curtin.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  November  5,  1862. 

HON.  M.  F.  ODELL,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.: 

You  are  re-elected.  I  wish  to  see  you  at  once.  Will  you  come! 
Please  answer.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  November  7, 1862. 

COL.  W.  W.  LOWE,  Eort  Henry,  Ter.-n.t 

Yours  of  yesterday  received.  Governor  Johnson,  Mr.  Ethridga 
and  others  are  looking  after  the  very  thing  you  telegraph  about. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C.,  November  14,  1862. 

HON.  F.  P.  BLAIR,  JR.,  Saint  Louis,  Mo. : 

Please  telegraph  me  the  result  of  the  election  in  Missouri  on 
Congress  and  Legislature.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  17,  1862. 

EGBERT  A.  MAXWELL,  Philadelphia,  Pa.: 
Your  dispatch  of  to-day  received.    I  do  not  at  all  understand  it. 

A.  LLVCOLN. 
(23) 


354  L1*^  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  November  26,  1862* 

HON.  GEORGE  ROBERTSON,  Lexington,  Ky.: 

I  mail  you  a  short  letter  to-day.  A.   LINCOLN. 


(Cypher)  WASHINGTON,  November  30,  1862. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  CURTIS,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

Frank  Blair  wants  Manter's  Thirty-second,  Curly's  Twenty- 
seventh,  Boyd's  Twenty-fourth  and  the  Ninth  and  Tenth  Cavalry 
to  go  with  him  down  the  river.  I  understand  it  is  with  you  to 
decide  whether  he  shall  have  them  and  if  so,  and  if  also  it  is  con 
sistent  with  the  public  service  you  will  oblige  me  a  good  deal 
by  letting  him  have  them.  A.  LINCOLN. 


Judge  Advocate  General,  Washington,  D.  C. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  Dec.  1,  1862. 

JUDGE  ADVOCATE  GENERAL. 

SIR:  Three  hundred  Indians  have  been  sentenced  to  death  in 
Minnesota  by  a  Military  Commission,  and  execution  only  awaits 
my  action.  I  wish  your  legal  opinion  whether  if  I  should  con 
clude  to  execute  only  a  part  of  them,  I  must  myself  designate  which, 
or  could  I  leave  the  designation  to  some  officer  on  the  ground  ? 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.   LINCOLN. 

(Original  in  Archives  of  Treasury  Dept.  Loaned  by  M.  E.  Ailes, 
Washington,  D.  C.) 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  7,  1862. 

HON.  H.  J.  RAYMOND,  Times  Office,  New  York: 

Yours  of  November  25,  reached  me  only  yesterday.  Thank  you  for 
it.  I  shall  consider  and  remember  your  suggestions. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  7,  1862. 

HON.  B.  GRATZ  BROWN,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

Yours  of  the  3d  received  yesterday.     Have  already  done  what 
I  can  in  the  premises.  A.    LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX 


355 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  8,  1862. 

GOVERNOR  ANDREW  JOHNSON,  Nashville,  Term.: 

Jesse  H.  Strickland  is  here  asking  authority  to  raise  a  regiment 
of  Tennesseeans.  Would  you  advise  that  the  authority  be  given 
him?  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Dec.  10, 1862. 
HON.  J.  K.  DUBOIS  : 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  In  the  summer  of  1859  when  Mr.  Freeman  visited 
Springfield,  Illinois,  in  relation  to  the  McCallister  &  Stebbin'a 
bonds  I  promised  him  that,  upon  certain  conditions,  I  would  ask  the 
members  of  the  Legislature  to  give  him  a  full  and  fair  hearing  of 
his  case.  I  do  not  now  remember,  nor  have  I  time  to  recall,  exactly 
what  the  conditions  were,  nor  whether  they  were  completely  per 
formed  ;  but  there  can  be,  in  no  case,  any  harm  in  his  having  a  full 
and  fair  hearing,  and  I  sincerely  wish  it  may  be  given  him. 

Yours  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  Chicago, 
Illinois.) 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  14,  1862. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  CURTIS,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

If  my  friend  Dr.  William  Fithian,  of  Danville,  HI.,  should  call  on 
you,  please  give  him  such  facilities  as  you  consistently  can  about 
recovering  the  remains  of  a  step-son  and  matters  connected  there 
with.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  14,  1862. 

HON.  SIMON  CAMERON,  Harrisburg,  Pa.: 

Please  come  to  Washington  so  soon  as  you  conveniently  can. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT. 
JOHN  G.  NICOLA Y,  Headquarters: 
What  news  have  you?  A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  16,  1862. 

BRIG.  GEN.  H.  H.  SIBLEY,  Saint  Paul,  Minn.: 

As  you  suggest  let  the  executions  fixed  for  Friday  the  19th  in 
stant,  be  postponed  to,  and  be  done  on  Friday  the  26th  instant. 

A.   LINCOLN. 


356  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

Private. 
Operator  please  send  this  very  carefully  and  accurately. 

A.  L. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  16,  1862. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  CURTIS,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

N.  W.  Watkins,  of  Jackson,  Mo.,  (who  is  half  brother  to  Henry 
Clay)  writes  me  that  a  colonel  of  ours  has  driven  him  from  his 
home  at  Jackson.  Will  you  please  look  into  the  case  and  restore 
the  old  man  to  his  home  if  the  public  interest  will  admit  ? 

A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C.,  December  16, 1862. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BURNSIDE,  Falmouth: 

Your  dispatch  about  General  Stahel  is  received.  Please  ascer 
tain  from  General  Sigel  and  his  old  corps  whether  Stahel  or  Schurz 
is  preferable  and  telegraph  the  result  and  I  will  act  immediately. 
After  all  I  shall  be  governed  by  your  preference.  A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
December  17,  1862. 

ABRAHAM  C.  CORSEY,  of  Seventh  Illinois  Volunteers,  Grand  Junc 
tion,  Miss. : 
Your  dispatch  of  yesterday  received.    Not  now. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  17,  1862. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  CURTIS: 

Could  the  civil  authority  be  reintroduced  into  Missouri  in  lieu 
of  the  military  to  any  extent,  with  advantage  and  safety  ? 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  17,  1862. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  BURNSIDE  : 

George  Patten  says  he  was  a  class-mate  of  yours  and  was  in  the 
same  regiment  of  artillery.  Have  you  a  place  you  would  like  to 
put  him  in  ?  and  if  so  what  is  it  ?  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  357 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  18,  1862. 

GOVERNOR  GAMBLE,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

It  is  represented  to  me  that  the  enrolled  militia  alone  would  now 
maintain  law  and  order  in  all  the  counties  of  your  State  north 
of  the  Missouri  River.  If  so  all  other  forces  there  might  be  re 
moved  south  of  the  river,  or  out  of  the  State.  Please  post  your 
self  and  give  me  your  opinion  upon  the  subject.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  19, 1862. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  CURTIS,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

Hon. Hall,  M.  C.,  here  tells  me,  and  Governor  Gamble  tel 
egraphs  me  that  quiet  can  be  maintained  in  all  the  counties  north 
of  the  Missouri  River  by  the  enrolled  militia.  Confer  with  Gov 
ernor  Gamble  and  telegraph  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  December  21,  1862. 
MRS.  A.  LINCOLN,  Continental  Hotel: 

Do  not  come  on  the  night  train.  It  is  too  cold.  Come  in  the 
morning.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Please  send  above  and  oblige  the  President.          JOHN  HAY, 

A.  P.  S. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  27,  1862. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  CURTIS,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

Let  the  order  in  regard  to  Dr.  McPheters  and  family  be  sus 
pended  until  you  hear  from  me  again.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

December  27,  1862. 
His  EXCELLENCY  GOVERNOR  GAMBLE: 

I  do  not  wish  to  leave  the  country  north  of  the  Missouri  to  the 
care  of  the  enrolled  militia  except  upon  the  concurrent  judgment 
of  yourself  and  General  Curtis.  His  I  have  not  yet  obtained. 
Confer  with  him,  and  I  shall  be  glad  to  act  when  you  and  he  agree. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  31,  1862. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. : 

I  hear  not  a  word  about  the  Congressional  election  of  which  you 
and  I  corresponded.  Time  nearly  up.  A.  LINCOLN. 


358  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

Private.  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  December  31,  1862. 
HON.  H.  J.  RAYMOND: 

The  proclamation  cannot  be  telegraphed  to  you  until  during  the 
day  to-morrow.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 


Private.  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  December  31,  1862. 
HON.  HORACE  GREELEY: 

The  proclamation  cannot  be  telegraphed  to  you  until  during  the 
day  to-morrow.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 


Caleb  Russell. 
Sallie  A.  Fenton. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  January  5,  1863. 

MY  GOOD  FRIENDS: 

The  Honorable  Senator  Harlan  has  just  placed  in  my  hands 
your  letter  of  the  27th  of  December,  which  I  have  read  with  pleas 
ure  and  gratitude. 

It  is  most  cheering  and  encouraging  for  me  to  know  that  in  the 
efforts  which  I  have  made  and  am  making  for  the  restoration  of 
a  righteous  peace  to  our  country,  I  am  upheld  and  sustained  by  the 
good  wishes  and  prayers  of  God's  people.  No  one  is  more  deeply 
than  myself  aware  that  without  His  favor  our  highest  wisdom  is 
but  as  foolishness  and  that  our  most  strenuous  efforts  would  avail 
nothing  in  the  shadow  of  His  displeasure. 

I  am  conscious  of  no  desire  for  my  country's  welfare  that  is 
not  in  consonance  with  His  will,  and  of  no  plan  upon  which  we  may 
not  ask  His  blessing.  It  seems  to  me  that  if  there  be  one  sub 
ject  upon  which  all  good  men  may  unitedly  agree,  it  is  imploring 
the  gracious  favor  of  the  God  of  Nations  upon  the  struggles  our 
people  are  making  for  the  preservation  of  their  precious  birth 
right  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 

Very  truly  your  friend, 

A.   LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Mr.  John  Dugdale,  Mt.  Pleasant,  Iowa.) 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  0.,  January  7,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. : 

Do  Richmond  papers  of  6th  say  nothing  about  Vicksburg  or  if 
anything,  what?  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  359 

f 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  23,  1863. 
GENERAL  BURNSIDE: 
Will  aee  you  any  moment  when  you  come.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  28,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Lowell,  Mass : 

Please  come  here  immediately.  Telegraph  me  about  what  time 
you  will  arrive.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C.,  January  29, 1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. : 

Do  Richmond  papers  have  anything  from  Vicksburg? 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C.,  January  30,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. : 

What  iron-clads  if  any  have  gone  out  of  Hampton  Roads  within 
the  last  two  days  ?  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C.,  January  31,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. : 

Corcoran's  and  Pryor's  battle  terminated.  Have  you  any  news 
through  Richmond  papers  or  otherwise  ?  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C.,  January  31, 1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SCHENCK,  Baltimore,  Md.: 

I  do  not  take  jurisdiction  of  the  pass  question.  Exercise  your 
own  discretion  as  to  whether  Judge  Pettis  shall  have  a  pass. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  1,  1863. 

GOVERNOR  O.  P.  MORTON,  Indianapolis,  Ind. : 

I  think  it  would  not  do  for  me  to  meet  you  at  Harrisburg.  It 
would  be  known  and  would  be  misconstrued  a  thousand  ways.  Of 
course  if  the  whole  truth  could  be  told  and  accepted  as  truth,  it 
would  do  no  harm,  but  that  is  impossible.  A.  LINCOLN. 


36°  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

(Cypher) 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  4, 1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SCHENCK,  Baltimore,  Md.: 

I  hear  of  some  difficulty  in  the  streets  of  Baltimore  yesterday. 
What  is  the  amount  of  it?  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  13,  1863. 

HON.  SIMON  CAMERON,  Harrisburg,  Pa. : 

General  Clay  is  here  and  I  suppose  the  matter  we  spoke  of  will 
have  to  be  definitely  settled  now.    Please  answer. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  19, 1863. 

WILLIAM  H.  HERNDON,  Springfield,  HI. : 

Would  you  accept  a  job  of  about  a  month's  duration  at  Saint 
Louis,  $5  a  day  and  mileage  ?    Answer.  A.  LINCOLN. 


(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  26,  1863. 

HON.  J.  K.  DUBOIS,  Springfield,  111. : 

General  Kosecrans  respectedly  urges  the  appointment  of  William 
P.  Caslin  as  a  brigadier-general.    What  say  you  now? 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  27,  1863. 

ALFRED  RUSSELL,  CHARLES  DICKEY,  Detroit,  Mich.: 

The  bill  you  mention  in  your  dispatch  of  yesterday  was  ap 
proved  and  signed  on  the  24th  of  this  month.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  27,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  HOOKER  : 

If  it  will  be  no  detriment  to  the  service  I  will  be  obliged  for 
Capt.  Henry  A.  Marchant,  of  Company  I,  Twenty-third  Pennsyl 
vania  Volunteers,  to  come  here  and  remain  four  or  five  days. 

A.  LINCOLN, 


APPENDIX  361 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  March  5, 1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  HOOKER,  Commanding  Army  of  the  Potomac : 

For  business  purposes  I  have  extended  the  leave  of  absence  of 
Capt.  Henry  A.  Marchant,  Twenty-third  Pennsylvania  Volunteers, 
five  days,  hoping  that  it  will  not  interfere  with  the  public  service. 
Please  notify  the  regiment  to-day.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  9,  1863. 

GOVERNOR  DAVID  TOD,  Columbus,  Ohio : 

I  think  your  advice  with  that  of  others  would  be  valuable  in  the 
selection  of  provost-marshals  for  Ohio.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  13,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  HOOKER  : 

General  Stahel  wishes  to  be  assigned  to  General  Heintzelman 
and  General  Heintzelman  also  desires  it.  I  would  like  to  oblige 
both  if  it  would  not  injure  the  service  in  your  army,  or  incommode 
you.  What  say  you?  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  16,  1863. 
HON.  J.  O.  MORTON,  Joliet,  111. : 

William  Chumasero  is  proposed  for  provost-marshal  of  your  dis 
trict.  What  think  you  of  it  ?  I  understand  he  is  a  good  man. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  17,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  ROSECRANS,  Murfreesborough,  Tenn.: 

Your  telegram  of  yesterday  just  received.  I  write  you  more 
fully  than  I  could  communicate  by  the  wires.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  25,  1863. 

MR.  BENJAMIN  GRATZ,  Lexington,  Ky. : 

Show  this  to  whom  it  may  concern  as  your  authority  for  allowing 
Mrs.  Shelby  to  remain  at  your  house,  so  long  as  you  choose  to  ba 
responsible  for  what  she  may  do.  A,  LINCOLN. 


$>2  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  25,  186b. 

HAJOR-GENERAL  ROSECRANS,  Murfreesborough,  Tenn.: 

Your  dispatches  about  General  Davis  and  General  Mitchell  are 
received.  General  Davis'  case  is  not  particular,  being  simply  one 
of  a  great  many  recommended  and  not  nominated,  because  they 
would  transcend  the  number  allowed  by  law.  General  Mitchell 
nominated  and  rejected  by  the  Senate  and  I  do  not  think  it  proper 
for  me  to  re-nominate  him  without  a  change  of  circumstances  such 
as  the  performance  of  additional  service,  or  an  expressed  change  of 
purpose  on  the  part  of  at  least  some  Senators  who  opposed  him. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  3,  1863. 

GOVERNOR  A.  G.  CURTIN,  Harrisburg,  Pa. : 
After  next  Tuesday  the  President  will  be  here. 

JOHN  G.  NICOLAY. 

COLONEL  SANFORD: 
Please  send  above  telegram.  Yours, 

JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  3,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  HOOKER: 

Our  plan  is  to  pass  Saturday  night  on  the  boat,  go  over  from 
Acquia  Creek  to  your  camp  Sunday  morning,  remain  with  you  till 
Tuesday  morning  and  then  return.  Our  party  will  probably  not 
exceed  six  persons  of  all  sorts.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  11,  1863. 

Officer  in  Command  at  Nashville,  Tenn.: 

Is  there  a  soldier  by  the  name  of  John  R.  Minnick  of  Wynkoop'a 
cavalry  under  sentence  of  death,  by  a  court  martial  or  military 
commission,  in  Nashville?  And  if  so  what  was  his  offense,  and 
when  is  he  to  be  executed? 

A.   LINCOLN. 

If  necessary  let  the  execution  be  staid  till  I  can  be  heard  from 
again.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  363. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  April  23,  1863. 

HON.  SIMON  CAMERON,  Harrisburg,  Pa.: 

Telegraph  me  the  name  of  your  candidate  for  West  Point. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  April  23,  1863. 

HON.  S.  P.  CHASE,  Philadelphia,  Pa. : 
Telegraph  me  the  name  of  your  candidate  for  West  Point. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  29,  1863. 

HON.  W.  A.  NEWELL,  Allentown,  N.  J. : 

I  have  some  trouble  about  provost-marshal  in  your  first  dis 
trict.  Please  procure  Hon.  Mr.  Starr  to  come  with  you  and  see 
me,  or  come  to  an  agreement  with  him  and  telegraph  me  the  result. 

A.   LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  4,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BURNSIDE,  Cincinnati,  Ohio: 

Our  friend  General  Sigel  claims  that  you  owe  him  a  letter.    If 
you  so  remember  please  write  him  at  once.    He  is  here. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  5,  1863. 

HON.  O.  M.  HATCH,  Springfield,  HI.: 

Your  dispatch  of  March  9th  recommending  provost-marshals, 
reads  9th  District  Benj.  F.  Weist,  Pittsfield,  111.  Should  it  not 
be  Benj.  F.  Westlake?  Answer.  JNO.  G.  NICOLA Y. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  May  11,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix: 

Do  the  Richmond  papers  have  anything  about  Grand  Gulf  or 
Vicksburg?  A.   LINCOLN. 


364  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  May  11,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTTERFIELD  : 

About  what  distance  is  it  from  the  observatory  we  stopped  at 
last  Thursday,  to  the  line  of  enemies  works  you  ranged  the  glass 
upon  for  me?  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  12,  1863. 

GOVERNOR  SEYMOUR,  Albany,  N.  Y.: 

Dr.  Swinburne  and  Mr.  Gillett  are  here  having  been  refused, 
as  they  say,  by  the  War  Department,  permission  to  go  to  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac.  They  now  appeal  to  me  saying  you  wish  them 
to  go.  I  suppose  they  have  been  excluded  by  a  rule  which  expe 
rience  has  induced  the  department  to  deem  proper,  still  they  shall 
have  leave  to  go,  if  you  say  you  desire  it.  Please  answer. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  13,  1863. 

DR.  A.  G.  HENRY,  Metropolitan  Hotel,  New  York: 

Governor  Chase's  feelings  were  hurt  by  my  action  in  his  ab 
sence.  Smith  is  removed,  but  Governor  Chase  wishes  to  name  his 
successor,  and  asks  a  day  or  two  to  make  the  designation. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  May  16,  1863. 

HON.  JAMES  GUTHRIE,  Louisville,  Ky. : 

Your  dispatch  of  to-day  is  received.  I  personally  know  nothing 
of  Colonel  Churchill,  but  months  ago  and  more  than  once  he  has 
been  represented  to  me  as  exerting  a  mischievous  influence  at 
Saint  Louis,  for  which  reason  I  am  unwilling  to  force  his  con 
tinuance  there  against  the  judgment  of  our  friends  on  the  ground, 
but  if  it  will  oblige  you,  he  may  come  to,  and  remain  at  Louisville 
upon  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  your  pledge  for  his  good 
behavior.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Secretary  of  War,  Washington,  D.  C. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON  CITY,  May  16,  1868. 

HON.  SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  The  commander  of  the  Department  at  St.  Louis 
has  ordered  several  persons  south  of  our  military  lines,  which  order 


APPENDIX  365 

is  not  disapproved  by  me.  Yet  at  the  special  request  of  Hon.  James 
Guthrie  I  have  consented  to  one  of  the  number,  Samuel  Churchill, 
remaining  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  upon  condition  of  his  taking  the 
oath  of  allegiance  and  Mr.  Guthrie's  word  of  honor  for  his  good 
behavior.  Yours  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 
(Original  owned  bjr  0.  F.  Gunther,  Chicago,  111.) 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  May  21, 1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BURNSIDE,  Cincinnati,  Ohio: 

In  the  case  of  Thomas  M.  Campbell,  convicted  as  a  spy,  let  ex 
ecution  of  the  sentence  be  respited  until  further  order  from  me, 
he  remaining  in  custody  meanwhile.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BURNSIDE: 

Please  acknowledge  receipt  of  above  telegram  and  time  of  de 
livery.  THO.  T.  ECKERT. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  22,  1863. 

GENERAL  QUINCY  A.  GILMORE,  New  York  City: 

The  President  of  the  United  States  desires  that  you  shall  come 
here  to  see  him  on  your  way  to  Kentucky. 

JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  May  24,  1863—10.40  p.  m. 

ANSON  STAGER,  Cleveland,  Ohio: 

Late  last  night  Fuller  telegraphed  you,  as  you  say,  that  "the 
stars  and  stripes  float  over  Vicksburg  and  the  victory  is  com 
plete."  Did  he  know  what  he  said,  or  did  he  say  it  without  know 
ing  it?  Your  dispatch  of  this  afternoon  throws  doubt  upon  it. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  25,  1863. 

COLONEL  HAGGARD,  Nashville,  Tenn.: 

Your  dispatch  to  Green  Adams  had  just  been  shown  to  me.  Gen 
eral  Kosecrans  knows  better  than  we  can  know  here,  who  should 
be  in  charge  of  the  "Fifth  Cavalry.  A.  LINCOLN. 


36^  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

WAR  DEPARTMEN  it 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  May  26,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BURNSIDE,  Cincinnati,  Ohio: 

Your  dispatch  about  Campbell,  Lyle  and  others  received  and 
postponement  ordered  by  you  approved.  I  will  consider  and  tele 
graph  you  again  in  a  few  days.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  27,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SCHENCK,  Baltimore,  Md.: 

Let  the  execution  of  William  B.  Compton  be  respited  or  sus 
pended  till  further  order  from  me,  holding  him  in  safe  custody 
meanwhile.  On  receiving  this  notify  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  27,  1863. 

GOVERNOR  BUCKINGHAM,  Hartford,  Conn. : 

The  execution  of  Warren  Whitemarch  is  hereby  respited  or  sus 
pended  until  further  order  from  me,  he  to  be  held  in  safe  custody 
meanwhile.  On  receiving  this  notify  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  28,  1863. 

HON.  ERASTUS  CORNING,  Albany,  N.  Y.: 

The  letter  of  yourself  and  others  dated  the  19th  and  inclosing 
the  resolutions  of  a  public  meeting  held  at  Albany  on  the  16th 
was  received  night  before  last.  I  shall  give  the  resolutions  the 
consideration  you  ask,  and  shall  try  to  find  time  and  make  a  re 
spectful  response.  Your  obedient  servant, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  June  1,  1863. 
COLONEL  LUDLOW,  Fort  Monroe: 

Richardson  and  Brown,  correspondents  of  the  Tribune  captured 
at  Vicksburg,  are  detained  at  Richmond.  Please  ascertain  why 
they  are  detained,  and  get  them  off  if  you  can.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  June  2,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  HOOKER: 

It  is  said  that  Philip  Margraf,  in  your  army,  is  under  sentence 
to  be  shot  on  Friday  the  5th  instant  as  a  deserter.  If  so  please 
send  me  up  the  record  of  his  case  at  once.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  367 

(Cypher)  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  June  4,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  HOOKER: 

Let  execution  of  sentences  in  the  cases  of  Daily,  Margraff  and 
Harrington,  be  respited  till  further  order  from  me,  they  remain 
ing  in  close  custody  meanwhile.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  0.,  June  4, 1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTTERFIELD  : 

The  news  you  send  me  from  the  Richmond  Sentinel  of  the  3d 
must  be  greatly  if  not  wholly  incorrect.  The  Thursday  mentioned 
was  the  28th,  and  we  have  dispatches  here  directly  from  Vicksburg 
of  the  28th,  29th,  30th  and  31st,  and  while  they  speak  of  the  siege 
progressing,  they  speak  of  no  assault  or  general  fighting  what 
ever,  and  in  fact  they  so  speak  as  to  almost  exclude  the  idea  that 
there  can  have  been  any  since  Monday  the  25th,  which  was  not 
very  heavy.  Neither  do  they  mention  any  demand  made  by  Grant 
upon  Pemberton  for  a  surrender.  They  speak  of  our  troops  as 
being  in  good  health,  condition  and  spirits.  Some  of  them  do  say 
that  Banks  has  Port  Hudson  invested.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  0.,  June  5,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  HOOKER: 

Would  you  like  to  have  Capt.  Treadwell  Moore,  now  in  Cali 
fornia,  to  report  to  you  for  duty?  A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  6,  1863. 

MRS.  ELIZABETH  J.  GRIMSLEY,  Springfield,  111.: 

Is  your  John  ready  to  enter  the  Naval  school?  If  he  is  tele 
graph  me  his  full  name.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  6,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  Fort  Monroe,  Va.: 

By  noticing  the  news  you  send  from  the  Richmond  Dispatch 
of  this  morning  you  will  see  one  of  the  very  latest  dispatches  says 
they  have  nothing  reliable  from  Vicksburg  since  Sunday.  Now 
we  here  have  a  dispatch  from  there  of  Sunday  and  others  of  almost 
every  day  preceding  since  the  investment,  and  while  they  show 
the  siege  progressing  they  do  not  show  any  general  fighting  since 
the  21st  and  22d.  We  have  nothing  from  Port  Hudson  later  than 
the  29th  when  things  looked  reasonably  well  for  us.  I  have  thought 
this  might  be  of  some  interest  to  you.  A.  LINCOLN. 


368  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  June  8,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  Fort  Monroe : 

We  have  dispatches  from  Vicksburg  of  the  3d.  Siege  progress 
ing.  No  general  fighting  recently.  All  well.  Nothing  new  from 
Port  Hudson.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D,  0.,  June  8,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  Fort  Monroe : 

The  substance  of  the  news  sent  of  fight  at  Port  Hudson  on  the 
27th  we  have  had  here  three  or  four  days,  and  I  supposed  you 
had  it  also,  when  I  said  this  morning,  "  No  news  from  Port  Hud 
son."  We  knew  that  General  Sherman  was  wounded,  but  we 
hoped  not  so  dangerously  as  your  dispatch  represents.  We  still 
have  nothing  of  that  Richmond  newspaper  story  of  Kirby  Smith 
crossing  and  of  Banks  losing  an  arm.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  June  9,  1863. 
HON.  JOHN  P.  HALE,  Dover,  N.  H.: 

I  believe  that  it  was  upon  your  recommendation  that  B.  B. 
Bunker  was  appointed  attorney  for  Nevada  Territory.  I  am 
pressed  to  remove  him  on  the  ground  that  he  does  not  attend  to 
the  office,  nor  in  fact  pass  much  time  in  the  Territory.  Do  you 
wish  to  say  anything  on  the  subject?  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  June  9,  1863. 
MRS.  LINCOLN,  Philadelphia,  Pa.: 

Think  you  had  better  put  "  Tad's  "  pistol  away.  I  had  an  ugly 
dream  about  him.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  0.,  June  9,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  HOOKER: 

I  am  told  there  are  50  incendiary  shells  here  at  the  arsenal 
made  to  fit  the  100-pounder  Parrott  gun  now  with  you.  If  this  be 
true  would  you  like  to  have  the  shells  sent  to  you? 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  June  11,  1863. 
MRS.  LINCOLN,  Philadelphia: 

Your  three  dispatches  received.  I  am  very  well  and  am  glad 
to  know  that  you  and  "  Tad  "  are  so,  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX 


369 


(Cypher)  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  June  12,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  HOOKER: 

If  you  can  show  me  a  trial  of  the  Incendiary  shells  on  Saturday 
night  I  will  try  to  join  you  at  5  p.  m.  that  day.  Answer. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  June  13,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  HOOKER: 

I  was  coming  down  this  afternoon,  but  if  yov  would  prefer  I 
should  not,  I  shall  blame  you  if  you  do  not  tell  me  so. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  0.,  June  14, 1863. 

GENERAL  TYLER,  Martinsburg: 

Is  Molroy  invested,  so  that  he  cannot  fall  back  to  Harper7! 
Ferry?  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  14, 1863. 
GENERAL  TYLER,  Martinsburg: 

If  you  are  besieged  how  do  you  dispatch  me?  Why  did  you  not 
leave  before  being  besieged?  A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  14,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  KELLEY,  Harper's  Ferry: 

Are  the  forces  at  Winchester  and  Martinsburg  making  any  effort 
to  get  to  you?  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

June  15,  1863. 
MRS.  LINCOLN,  Philadelphia,  Pa.: 

Tolerably  well.  Have  not  rode  out  much  yet,  but  have  at  last 
got  new  tires  on  the  carriage  wheels  and  perhaps  shall  ride  out 
soon.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  16,  1863 — 5.35  p.  m. 

GENERAL  TYLER,  Harper's  Ferry: 

Please  answer  as  soon  as  you  can  the  following  inquiries  which 
General  Hooker  makes.  A.  LINCOLN, 

(24) 


370  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  16,  1863. 

HORRACE  BINNEY,  JR.,  Philadelphia: 

I  sent  General  Cadwallader  some  hours  ago  to  the  Secretary  of 
War,  and  general-in-chief  with  the  question  you  ask.  I  have  not 
heard  the  result.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  16,  1863. 

FREDERICK  KAPP  AND  OTHERS,  New  York: 

The  Governor  of  New  York  promises  to  send  us  troops  and  if 
he  wishes  the  assistance  of  General  Fremont  and  General  Sigel, 
one  or  both,  he  can  have  it.  If  he  does  not  wish  them  it  would  but 
breed  confusion  for  us  to  set  them  to  work  independently  of  him. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  16,  1863. 

GENERAL  T.  FRANCIS  MEAGHER,  New  York: 

Your  dispatch  received.  Shall  be  very  glad  for  you  to  raise 
3,000  Irish  troops  if  done  by  the  consent  of,  and  in  concert  with 
Governor  Seymour.  A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C.,  June  16,  1863. 

MRS.  LINCOLN,  Philadelphia: 

It  is  a  matter  of  choice  with  yourself  whether  you  come  home. 
There  is  no  reason  why  you  should  not,  that  did  not  exist  when 
you  went  away.  As  bearing  on  the  question  of  your  coming  home, 
I  do  not  think  the  raid  into  Pennsylvania  amounts  to  anything  at 
all.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  June  16,  1863. 

COL.  WILLIAM  S.  BLISS,  New  York  Hotel: 

Your  dispatch  asking  whether  I  will  accept  "  the  Loyal  Bri 
gade  of  the  North"  is  received.  I  never  heard  of  that  brigade 
by  name  and  do  not  know  where  it  is,  yet  presuming  it  is  in  New 
York,  I  say  I  will  gladly  accept  it,  if  tendered  by  and  with  the 
consent  and  approbation  of  the  Governor  of  that  State.  Other 
wise  not.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX 


371 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  17,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  HOOKER: 

Mr.  Eckert,  superintendent  in  the  telegraph  office,  assures  me 
that  he  has  sent,  and  will  send  you  everything  that  comes  to  the 
office.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  June  18,  1863. 

JOSHUA  TEVIS,  ESQ.,  U.  S.  Attorney,  Frankfort,  Ky.: 

A  Mr.  Buckner  is  here  showing  a  record  and  asking  to  be  dis 
charged  from  a  suit  in  San  Francisco,  as  bail  for  one  Thompson. 
Unless  the  record  shown  me  is  defectively  made  out  I  think  it 
can  be  successfully  defended  against.  Please  examine  the  case 
carefully,  and  if  you  shall  be  of  opinion  it  cannot  be  sustained, 
dismiss  it  and  relieve  me  from  all  trouble  about  it.  Please  answer. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  June  18,  1863. 

GOVERNOR  D.  TOD,  Columbus,  Ohio: 

Yours  received.  I  deeply  regret  that  you  were  not  renominated, 
not  that  I  have  aught  against  Mr.  Brough.  On  the  contrary  like 
yourself,  I  say  hurrah  for  him.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  18,  1863. 

GENERAL  A.  DINGMAN,  Belleville,  C.  W. : 

Thanks  for  your  offer  of  the  Fifteenth  Battalion.  I  do  not 
think  Washington  is  in  danger.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  21,  1863. 

GENERAL  SCHOFIELD,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

I  write  you  to-day  in  answer  to  your  dispatch  of  yesterday.  If 
you  cannot  await  the  arrival  by  mail  telegraph  me  again. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  23,  1863b 

MAJOR  VAN VLIET,  New  York : 

Have  you  any  idea  what  the  news  is  in  the  dispatch  of  General 
Banks  to  General  Halleck?  A.  LINCOLN. 


372 


LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

June  24,  186o. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  COUCH,  Harrisburg,  Pa.: 

Have  you  any  reports  of  the  enemy  moving  into  Pennsylvania  $ 
And  if  any  what?  A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  June  24,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  Yorktown,  Va. : 

We  have  a  dispatch  from  General  Grant  of  the  19th.  Don't  think 
Kirby  Smith  took  Milliken's  Bend  since,  allowing  time  to  get  the 
news  to  Joe  Johnston  and  from  him  to  Richmond.  But  it  is  not 
absolutely  impossible.  Also  have  news  from  Banks  to  the  16th, 
I  think.  He  had  not  run  away  then,  nor  thought  of  it. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  0.,  June  25,  1863. 

GENERAL  PECK,  Suffolk,  Va.: 

Colonel  Derrom,  of  the  Twenty-fifth  New  Jersey  Volunteers, 
now  mustered  out,  says  there  is  a  man  in  your  hands  under  con 
viction  for  desertion,  who  formerly  belonged  to  the  above  named 
regiment,  and  whose  name  is  Templeton,  Isaac  F.  Templeton,  I 
believe.  The  colonel  and  others  appeal  to  me  for  him.  Please 
telegraph  to  me  what  is  the  condition  of  the  case,  and  if  he  has 
not  been  executed  send  me  the  record  of  the  trial  and  conviction. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  25,  1868. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SLOCUM,  Leesburg,  Va.: 

Was  William  Gruvier,  Company  A,  Forty-sixth  Pennsylvania, 
one  of  the  men  executed  as  a  deserter  last  Friday  ? 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  WASHINGTON,  June  26,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BURNSIDE,  Cincinnati,  Ohio: 
What  is  the  case  of  "  William  Waller,"  at  Maysville,  Ky.  ? 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  27,  1863 — 8  a.  m. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  HOOKER: 

It  did  not  come  from  the  newspapers,  nor  did  I  believe  it  but 
I  wished  to  be  entirely  sure  it  was  a  falsehood.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  373 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  June  28,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BURNSIDE,  Cincinnati,  Ohio: 

There  is  nothing  going  on  in  Kentucky  on  the  subject  of  which 
you  telegraph,  except  an  enrollment.  Before  anything  is  done  be 
yond  this,  I  will  take  care  to  understand  the  case  better  than  I 
now  do.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  DL  C.,  June  28,  1863. 

GOVERNOR  J.  T.  BOYLE,  Cincinnati,  Ohio: 

There  is  nothing  going  on  in  Kentucky  on  the  subject  of  which 
you  telegraph,  except  an  enrollment.  Before  anything  is  done 
beyond  this,  I  will  take  care  to  understand  the  case  better  than 
I  now  do.  A.  LINCOLN,  j 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  28,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SCHENCK,  Baltimore,  Md.: 

Every  place  in  the  Naval  school  subject  to  my  appointment  ia 
full  and  I  have  one  unredeemed  promise  of  more  than  half  a  year's 
standing.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  June  30,  1863. 

GOVERNOR  PARKER,  Trenton,  N.  J.: 

Your  dispatch  of  yesterday  received.  I  really  think  the  alti 
tude  of  the  enemies  army  in  Pennsylvania  presents  us  the  best 
opportunity  we  have  had  since  the  war  began.  I  think  you  will 
not  see  the  foe  in  New  Jersey.  I  beg  you  to  be  assured  that  no 
one  out  of  my  position  can  know  so  well  as  if  he  were  in  it,  the 
difficulties  and  involvments  of  replacing  General  McClellan  in 
command,  and  this  aside  from  any  imputations  upon  him.  Please 
accept  my  sincere  thanks  for  what  you  have  done  and  are  doing 
to  get  troops  forward.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  June  30,  1863. 

A.  K.  McCLURE,  Philadelphia : 

Do  we  gain  anything  by  opening  one  leak  to  stop  another?  Do 
we  gain  anything  by  quieting  one  clamor  merely  to  open  another, 
and  probably  a  larger  one?  A.  LINCOLN, 


374  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

(Cypher) 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  June  30, 1863 — 3.25  p.  m. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  COUCH,  Harrisbir.£,  Pa.: 

I  judge  by  absence  of  news  that  the  enemy  is  not  crossing  or 
pressing  up  to  the  Susquehanna.  Please  tell  me  what  you  know 
of  his  movements.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  3,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BURNSIDE,  Cincinnati,  Ohio: 

Private  Downey,  of  the  Twentieth  or  Twenty-sixth  Kentucky 
Infantry,  is  said  to  have  been  sentenced  to  be  shot  for  desertion 
to-day.  If  so,  respite  the  execution  until  I  can  see  the  record. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  July  3,  1863. 

ROBERT  T.  LINCOLN,  ESQ.,  Cambridge,  Mass. : 

Don't  be  uneasy.    Your  Mother  very  slightly  hurt  by  her  fall. 

A.  L. 
Please  send  at  once. 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  5,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  FRENCH,  Frederick  Town,  Md. : 

I  see  your  dispatch  about  destruction  of  pontoons.  Cannot  the 
enemy  ford  the  river?  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  7,  1863. 

J.  K.  DUBOIS  AND  OTHERS,  Springfield,  111.: 

An  appointment  of  Chesley  at  Danville  had  already  been  made 
and  gone  forward  for  enrollment  commissioner  of  Seventh  Dis 
trict  when  your  dispatch  arrived.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  8,  1863. 

E.  DELAFIELD  SMITH,  New  York: 

Your  kind  dispatch  on  behalf  of  self  and  friends  is  gratefully 
received.  Capture  of  Vicksburg  confirmed  by  dispatch  from  Gen 
eral  Grant  himself.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX 


375 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  8,  1863. 

HON.  F.  I'.  Low,  San  Francisco,  CaL: 

There  is  no  doubt  that  General  Meade,  now  commanding  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  beat  Lee  at  Gettysburg,  Pa.,  at  the  end 
of  a  three  days'  battle,  and  that  the  latter  is  now  crossing  the 
Potomac  at  Williamsport  over  the  swollen  stream  and  with  poor 
means  of  crossing,  and  closely  pressed  by  Meade.  We  also  have 
dispatches  rendering  it  entirely  certain  that  Vicksburg  surrendered 
to  General  Grant  on  the  glorious  old  4th.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C.,  July  9,  1863. 

HON.  LEONARD  SWETT,  HON.  F.  F.  Low,  San  Francisco,  Cal. : 

Consult  together  and  do  not  have  a  riot,  or  great  difficulty  about 
delivering  possession.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  July  11,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SCHENCK,  Baltimore,  Md.: 

How  many  rebel  prisoners  captured  within  Maryland  and  Penn 
sylvania  have  reached  Baltimore  within  this  month  of  July  ? 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  July  11,  1863. 

R  T.  LINCOLN,  New  York,  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel: 
Come  to  Washington.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  12,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SCHENCK,  Baltimore,  Md.: 

You  seem  to  misunderstand  the  nature  of  the  objection  to  Gen 
eral  Tremble's  going  to  Baltimore.  His  going  there  is  opposed 
to  prevent  his  meeting  his  traitorous  associates  there. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  14, 1863. 

ROBERT  T.  LINCOLN,  New  York,  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel: 
Why  do  I  hear  no  more  of  you?  A.   LINCOLN. 


376  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  July  15,  1863. 

HON.  L.  SWETT,  San  Francisco,  Cal. : 

Many  persons  are  telegraphing  me  from  California,  begging  me 
for  the  peace  of  the  State  to  suspend  the  military  enforcement 
of  the  writ  of  possession  in  the  Almedan  case,  while  you  are  the 
single  one  who  urges  the  contrary.  You  know  I  would  like  to 
oblige  you,  but  it  seems  to  me  my  duty  in  this  case  is  the  other 
way.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  July  15,  1863. 

HON.  SIMON  CAMERON,  Harrisburg,  Pa. : 

Your  dispatch  of  yesterday  received.  Lee  was  already  across 
the  river  when  you  sent  it.  I  would  give  much  to  be  relieved  of 
the  impression  that  Meade,  Couch,  Smith,  and  all  since  the  battle 
at  Gettysburg,  have  striven  only  to  get  Lee  over  the  river  without 
another  fight.  -Please  tell  me,  if  you  know,  who  was  the  one  corps 
commander  who  was  for  fighting  in  the  council  of  war  on  Sunday 
night.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  15,  1863. 

ROBERT  A.  MAXWELL,  1032  Chestnut  Street,  Philadelphia: 

Your  dispatch  of  to-day  is  received,  but  I  do  not  understand  it. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  18, 1863. 
GOVERNOR  O.  P.  MORTON,  Indianapolis: 

What  do  you  remember  about  the  case  of  John  O.  Brown,  con 
victed  of  mutinous  conduct  and  sentenced  to  death?  What  do 
you  desire  about  it?  A.  LINCOLN. 

NEW  YORK,  July  28,  1863. 
MRS.  A.  LINCOLN,  New  York: 

Bob  went  to  Fort  Monroe  and  only  got  back  to-day.  Will  start 
to  you  at  11  a.  m.  to-morrow.  All  well.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  July  30,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE: 

Please  suspend  execution  of  Peter  Schalowsky,  Company  B,  For 
ty-fifth  New  York  Regiment  Volunteers,  til]  further  order  and 
send  me  record  of  his  conviction.  A.  LINCOLN, 


APPENDIX  377 

«•» 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  August  3,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  "FOSTER,  (or  whoever  may  be  in  command  of  the 
military  department  with  headquarters  at  Fort  Monroe,  Va. :) 

If  Dr.  Wright  on  trial  at  Norfolk,  has  been  or  shall  be  convicted, 
send  me  a  transcript  of  his  trial  and  conviction  and  do  not  let 
execution  be  done  upon  him  until  my  further  order. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  4, 1863. 

HON.  JOHN  A.  BINGHAM,  Cadiz,  Ohio : 

It  is  indispensable  for  us  to  have  a  judge  at  Key  West  as  soon 
as  possible.    Please  inform  me  whether  you  will  go. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  5,  1863. 
Cincinnati  Gazette: 

Please  send  me  your  present  posting  as  to  Kentucky  election. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  15,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  FOSTER,  Fort  Monroe,  Va.: 

*  I  think  you  are  right  in  placing  "  little  reliance  in  the  report," 
still  the  question  is  so  interesting  that  I  would  like  to  know  if  the 
captain  of  the  Hudson  gave  any  particulars  how  he  got  his  news 
and  the  like.  Please  answer.  A.  LINCOLN. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  17, 1863. 

GENERAL  W.  K.  STRONG,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

Please  send  me  a  transcript  of  the  record  in  the  case  McQuin 
and  Bell,  under  sentence  of  death  by  a  commission  of  which  you 
were  the  head.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  D,  0.,  August  17, 1863. 

GOVERNOR  JOHNSON,  Nashville,  Tenn.: 

The  appointment  of  Colonel  Gillam  to  be  a  brigadier-general  haa 
been  ordered.  A.  LINCOLN. 


378  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

(Private.) 
Hon.  James  Conkling. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C.,  August  17,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  CONKLING:  I  cannot  leave  here  now.  Herewith  is  a 
letter  instead.  You  are  one  of  the  best  public  readers.  I  have  but 
one  suggestion — read  it  very  slowly.  And  now  God  bless  you,  and 
all  good  Union  men.  Yours  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(From  Herndon's  "  Life  of  Lincoln."  Permission  of  Jesse  Weik.) 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  20,  1863. 

HON.  JAMES  C.  CONKLING,  Springfield,  111.: 

Your  letter  of  the  14th  is  received.  I  think  I  will  go  or  send 
a  letter,  probably  the  latter.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  20,  1863. 
GENERAL  A.  J.  HAMILTON,  (of  Texas)  New  York: 

Telegraph  me  the  name  of  a  boy  or  young  man  who  you  would 
like  to  have  appointed  to  West  Point.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  August  21,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Warrenton,  Ya. : 

At  this  late  moment  I  am  appealed  to  in  behalf  of  William 
Thompson  of  Company  K,  Third  Maryland  Volunteers,  in  Twelfth 
Army  Corps,  said  to  be  at  Kelly's  Ford,  under  sentence  to  be  shot 
to-day  as  a  deserter.  He  is  represented  to  me  to  be  very  young, 
with  symptoms  of  insanity.  Please  postpone  the  execution  till 
further  order.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  22,  1863. 
GENERAL  SCHOFIELD,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

Please  send  me  if  you  can  a  transcript  of  the  record  in  the  case 
of  McQuin  and  Bell,  convicted  of  murder  by  a  military  commis 
sion.  I  telegraphed  General  Strong  for  it,  but  he  does  not  answer. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  24,  1863. 

MRS.  ELIZABETH  J.  GRIMSLEY,  Springfield,  111.: 

I  mail  the  papers  to  you  to-day  appointing  Johnny  to  the  Naval 
school.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX 


379 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  28, 1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  FOSTER,  Fort  Monroe,  Va.: 

Please  notify,  if  you  can,  Senator  Bowden,  Mr.  Segar,  and  Mr. 
Chandler,  all,  or  any  of  them,  that  I  now  have  the  record  in  Dr. 
Wright's  case  and  am  ready  to  hear  them.  When  you  shall  have 
got  the  notice  to  them  please  let  me  know.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  28,  1863. 

GENERAL  CRAWFORD,  Rappahannock  Station,  Va. : 

I  regret  that  I  cannot  be  present  to  witness  the  presentation  of 
a  sword  by  the  gallant  Pennsylvania  Reserve  Corps  to  one  so 
worthy  to  receive  it  as  General  Meade.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  29,  1863. 
HON.  L.  SWETT,  San  Francisco,  Cal. : 

If  the  Government's  rights  are  reserved,  the  Government  will  be 
satisfied,  and  at  all  events  it  will  consider.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  August  29,  1863. 

BEN.  FIELD,  ESQ.,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. : 
I  send  you  by  mail  to-day  a  copy  of  the  Springfield  letter. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  29,  1863. 

MRS.  A.  LINCOLN,  Manchester,  N.  H.: 

All  quite  well.  Fort  Sumter  is  certainly  battered  down  and 
utterly  useless  to  the  enemy,  and  it  is  believed  here,  but  not  en 
tirely  certain  that  both  Sumter  and  Fort  Wagner  are  occupied 
by  our  forces.  It  is  also  certain  that  General  Gilmore  has  thrown 
some  shot  into  the  city  of  Charleston.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  August  31,  1863. 

HON.  JAMES  C.  CONKLING,  Springfield,  HI.: 

In  my  letter  of  the  26th  insert  between  the  sentence  ending 
"  since  the  issue  of  the  emancipation  proclamation  as  before  "  and 
the  next  commencing  "  You  say  you  will  not  fight,  &c.,"  what  fol 
lows  below  my  signature  hereto.  A.  LINCOLN. 


380  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

"I  know  as  fully  as  one  can  know  the  opinions  of  others,  that 
some  of  the  commanders  of  our  armies  in  the  field,  who  have  given 
us  our  most  important  successes,  believe  the  emancipation  policy, 
and  the  use  of  colored  troops,  constitute  the  heaviest  blow  yet 
dealt  to  the  rebellion,  and  that  at  least  one  of  those  important 
successes,  could  not  have  been  achieved  when  it  was,  but  for  the 
aid  of  black  soldiers.  Among  the  commanders  holding  these  views 
are  some  who  have  never  had  any  affinity  with  what  is  called  abo 
litionism,  or  with  Republican  party  politics,  but  who  hold  them 
purely  as  military  opinions.  I  submit  these  opinions  as  being  en 
titled  to  some  weight  against  the  objections,  often  urged,  that 
emancipation,  and  arming  the  blacks,  are  unwise  as  military  meas 
ures,  and  were  not  adopted  as  such  in  good  faith." 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  31,  1863. 

LIEUTENANT-COLONEL  LAUGH:,  Munfordsville,  Ky. : 

Let  the  execution  of  Thomas  E.  Coleman  and  Charles  Johns, 
be  suspended  until  further  order  from  here.  Acknowledge  receipt 
of  this.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  31,  1863. 

COL.  A.  G.  HOBSON,  Bowling  Green,  Ky. : 

I  have  telegraphed  Lieutenant-Colonel  Lauck,  at  Munfords 
ville,  to  suspend  the  execution  of  Coleman  and  Johns  until  fur 
ther  order  from  here.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  31,  1863. 
H.  B.  WILSON  AND  OTHERS,  Camden  N.  J.: 
Will  grant  you  an  interview  on  Wednesday  or  sooner. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  3,  1863. 

HON.  JAMES  C.  CONKLING,  Springfield,  111.: 

I  am  mortified  this  morning  to  find  the  letter  to  you  botched  up 
in  the  Eastern  papers,  telegraphed  from  Chicago.  How  did  this 
happen?  A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,   September  3,  1863. 
MRS.  A.  LINCOLN,  Manchester,  Vt. : 

The  Secretary  of  War  tells  me  he  has  telegraphed  General 
Doubleday  to  await  further  orders.  We  are  all  well  and  have  noth 
ing  new.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  381 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  5,  1863. 

HON.  JOSEPH  SEGAR,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. : 

I  have  just  seen  your  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  who  is 
absent.  I  also  send  a  dispatch  from  Major  Hayner  of  the  3d 
showing  that  he  had  notice  of  my  order,  and  stating  that  the  peo 
ple  were  jubilant  over  it,  as  a  victory  over  the  Government  ex 
torted  by  fear,  and  that  he  had  already  collected  about  4,000  of 
the  money.  If  he  has  proceeded  since  I  shall  hold  him  accounta 
ble  for  his  contumacy.  On  the  contrary  no  dollar  shall  be  re 
funded  by  my  order  until  it  shall  appear  that  my  act  in  the  case 
has  been  accepted  in  the  right  spirit.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  6,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SCHENCK,  Baltimore: 

The  Secretary  of  War  is  absent.  Please  direct  or  order  that  the 
collection  of  the  light  house  be  suspended,  and  that  the  money 
already  collected  be  held,  both  till  further  order. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  6,  1863. 

MRS.  A.  LINCOLN,  Manchester,  Vt.: 

All  well  and  no  news  except  that  General  Burnside  has  Knox- 
ville,  Term.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  9,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Warrenton,  Va. : 

It  would  be  a  generous  thing  to  give  General  Wheaton  a  leave  of 
absence  for  ten  or  fifteen  days,  and  if  you  can  do  so  without  injury 
to  the  service,  please  do  it.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  10,  1863. 

GENERAL  WHEATON,  Army  of  Potomac: 

Yesterday  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Blair,  senator,  I  telegraphed 
General  Meade  asking  him  to  grant  you  a  leave  of  absence,  to 
which  he  replied  that  you  had  not  applied  for  such  leave,  and  that 
you  can  have  it  when  you  do  apply.  I  suppose  it  is  proper  for  you 
to  know  this.  A.  LINCOLN. 


382  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  11,  1863. 

VICE  PRESIDENT  HAMLIN,  Bangor,  Me.: 

Your  letter  of  August  22,  to  be  presented  by  your  son  Cyrus  ia 
on  my  table,  but  I  have  not  seen  him,  or  know  of  his  being  here 
recently.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  11,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Warrenton,  Va.: 

It  is  represented  to  me  that  Thomas  Edds,  in  your  army,  is 
under  sentence  of  death  for  desertion,  to  be  executed  next  Mon 
day.  It  is  also  said  his  supposed  desertion  is  comprised  in  an  ab 
sence  commencing  with  his  falling  behind  last  winter,  being  cap 
tured  and  paroled  by  the  enemy,  and  then  going  home.  If  this 
be  near  the  truth,  please  suspend  the  execution  till  further  order 
and  send  me  the  record  of  the  trial.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  12,  1863. 

GENERAL  GEARY,  Kelly's  Ford: 

Please  tell  me  what  you  know  or  believe  as  to  the  conduct  and 
disposition  of  E.  Jacquelin  Smith,  residing  near  Salem  on  the 
Manassas  Gap  Railroad.  A.  LINCOLN. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  12,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Warrenton,  Va.: 

The  name  is  "  Thomas  Edds "  not  "  Eddies "  as  in  your  dis 
patch.  The  papers  left  with  me  do  not  designate  the  regiment 
to  which  he  belongs.  The  man  who  gave  me  the  papers,  I  do  not 
know  how  to  find  again.  He  only  told  me  that  Edds  is  in  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  that  he  fell  out  of  the  ranks  during 
Burnsides'  mud  march  last  winter.  If  I  get  further  information 
I  will  telegraph  again.  A.  LINCOLN. 


(Cypher)  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  September  13,  1863. 

HON.  J.  K  DUBOIS,  HON.  O.  M.  HATCH: 

What  nation  do  you  desire  General  Allen  to  be  made  quarter 
master-general  of?  This  nation  already  has  a  quartermaster- 
general.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  383 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  13,  1863. 

DR.  JOHN  P.  GRAY,  Norfolk,  Va.: 

The  names  of  those  whose  affidavits  are  left  with  me  on  the 
question  of  Dr.  Wright's  sanity  are  as  follows: 

Mrs.  Jane  C.  Bolsom,  Mrs.  M.  E.  Smiley,  Moses  Hudgin,  J.  D. 
Ghislin,  Jr.,  Felix  Logue,  Robert  B.  Tunstall,  M.  D.,  Mrs.  Eliza 
beth  Rooks,  Dr.  E.  D.  Granier,  Thomas  K.  Murray,  William  J. 
Holmes,  Miss  Margaret  E.  Wigeoa,  Mrs.  Emily  S.  Frost. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  13,  1863. 

DR.  WILLIAM  H.  H   SCOTT,  Danville,  El. : 

Your  niece,  Mrs.  Kate  Sharp,  can  now  have  no  difficulty  in 
going  to  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  as  that  place  is  within  our  military 
lines.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  15,  1863. 

J.  G.  ELAINE,  Augusta,  Me. : 

Thanks  both  for  the  good  news  you  send  and  for  the  sending 
of  it.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  16,  1863. 

MRS.  J.  F.  SPEED,  Louisville,  Ky.: 

Mr.  Holman  will  not  be  jostled  from  his  place  with  my  knowl 
edge  and  consent.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  16,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Warrenton,  Va.: 

Is  Albert  Jones  of  Company  K,  Third  Maryland  Volunteers  to 
be  shot  on  Friday  next?  If  so  please  state  to  me  the  general  fea 
tures  of  the  case.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  17,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SCHENCK,  Baltimore,  Md.: 

Major  Haynor  left  here  several  days  ago  under  a  promise  ta 
put  down  in  writing,  in  detail  the  facts  in  relation  to  the  mis 
conduct  of  the  people  on  the  Eastern  shore  of  Virginia.  He  has 
not  returned.  Please  send  him  over.  A.  LINCOLN. 


LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  17,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Headquarters  Army  of  Potomac: 

Yours  in  relation  to  Albert  Jones  is  received.  I  am  appealed 
to  in  behalf  of  Richard  M.  Abrams  of  Company  A,  Sixth  New  Jer 
sey  Volunteers,  by  Governor  Parker,  Attorney-General  Freeline- 
hoysen,  Governor  Newell,  Hon.  Mr.  Middleton,  M.  C.,  of  the  dis 
trict  and  the  marshal  who  arrested  him.  I  am  also  appealed  to  in 
behalf  of  Joseph  S.  Smith,  of  Company  A,  Eleventh  New  Jersey 
Volunteers,  by  Governor  Parker,  Attorney-General  Freelinghoy- 
sen,  and  Hon.  Marcus  C.  Ward.  Please  state  the  circumstances  of 
their  cases  to  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 


(Cypher)  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  September  18,  1863. 

HON.  ANDREW  JOHNSON,  Nashville,  Tenn. : 

Dispatch  of  yesterday  just  received.  I  shall  try  to  find  the  paper 
you  mention  and  carefully  consider  it.  In  the  meantime  let  me 
urge  that  you  do  your  utmost  to  get  every  man  you  can,  black  and 
white,  under  arms  at  the  very  earliest  moment,  to  guard  roads, 
bridges  and  trains,  allowing  all  the  better  trained  soldiers  to  go 
forward  to  Rosecrans.  Of  course  I  mean  for  you  to  act  in  co-op 
eration  with,  and  not  independently  of  the  military  authorities. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  18,  1863. 

C.  M.  SMITH,  ESQ.,  Springfield,  HI.: 

Why  not  name  him  for  the  general  you  fancy  most  ?    This  is  my 
suggestion.  A.   LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  September  18,  1863. 

MRS.  HANNAH  ARMSTRONG,  Petersburg,  HI.: 

I  have  just  ordered  the  discharge  of  your  boy  William  as  you 
say,  now  at  Louisville,  Ky.  A.   LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  19,  1863. 

HUGHEY  GALLAGHER,  Philadelphia,  Pa. : 

I  know  nothing  as  to  John  Gallagher.  The  law  does  not  require 
this  class  of  cases  to  come  before  me,  and  they  do  not  come  unless 
brought  by  the  friends  of  the  condemned.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  385 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  20,  1863. 

HRS.  A.  LINCOLN,  New  York: 

I  neither  see  nor  hear  anything  of  sickness  here  now,  though 
there  may  be  much  without  my  knowing  it.  I  wish  you  to  stay,  or 
come  just  as  is  most  agreeable  to  yourself.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  0.,  September  21,  1863. 

MRS.  A.  LINCOLN,  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  New  York: 

The  air  is  so  clear  and  cool  and  apparently  healthy  that  I  would 
be  glad  for  you  to  come.  Nothing  very  particular  but  I  would 
be  glad  to  see  you  and  Tad.  A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  21,  1863. 

GOVERNOR  PIERPOINT,  Alexandria,  Va.: 

I  would  be  glad  to  have  your  opinion  whether  it  would  be  good 
policy  to  refund  the  money  collected  from  the  people  of  East 
Virginia,  as  indemnity  for  the  light  house  depredation.  I  believe 
you  once  gave  me  your  opinion  on  the  point,  but  I  am  not  entirely 
sure.  Please  answer.  A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  21,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

I  am  appealed  to  in  behalf  of  John  H.  Williams,  Company  D, 
Fourth  Regiment  Maryland  Volunteers,  First  Corps,  who  is  said 
to  be  under  sentence  of  death,  to  be  executed  on  the  25th  for  de 
sertion.  The  appeal  is  made  on  the  ground  of  unsoundness  of 
mind.  Please  give  me  briefly  the  facts  and  your  views. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  22,  1863. 

MILITARY  OFFICER  IN  COMMAND,  Cumberland,  Md. : 

It  is  represented  to  me  that  one  Dennis  McCarty,  is  at  Cumber 
land  under  sentence  of  death,  but  that  the  time  is  not  yet  fixed 
for  his  execution.  Please  answer  telling  me  whether  this  state 
ment  is  correct,  and  also  if  an  order  shall  come  to  you  for  his  exe 
cution,  notify  me  of  it  at  once  by  telegraph.  A.  LINCOLN. 
(25) 


3^6  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  22,  1863, 

HON.  O.  M.  HATCH,  HON.  J.  K.  DUBOIS,  Springfield,  111.: 

Your  letter  is  just  received.  The  particular  form  of  my  dispatch 
was  jocular,  which  I  supposed  you  gentlemen  knew  me  well  enough 
to  understand.  General  Allen  is  considered  here  as  a  very  faithful 
and  capable  officer,  and  one  who  would  be  at  least  thought  of  for 
quartermaster-general  if  that  office  were  vacant.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  22,  1863. 

MRS.  A.  LINCOLN,  Fifth  Avenue  House,  New  York: 

Did  you  receive  my  dispatch  of  yesterday?  Mrs.  Cuthbert  did 
not  correctly  understand  me.  I  directed  her  to  tell  you  to  use 
your  own  pleasure  whether  to  stay  or  come,  and  I  did  not  say  it 
is  sickly  and  that  you  should  on  no  account  come.  So  far  as  I  see 
or  know,  it  was  never  healthier,  and  I  really  wish  to  see  you.  An 
swer  this  on  receipt.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  23,  1883. 

THOMAS  DAVIES,  Indianapolis,  Ind.: 

Forward  your  petition  and  record  of  trial  immediately.  There 
is  time  for  them  to  reach  before  the  1st  of  next  month. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  24,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

I  am  appealed  to  in  favor  of  a  private  (name  not  remembered) 
in  Company  D,  First  Regiment  New  Jersey  Volunteers,  in  Sixth 
Corps,  who  is  said  to  be  under  sentence  to  be  shot  to-morrow. 
Please  give  me  briefly  the  facts  of  the  case,  including  his  age  and 
your  opinion  on  it.  A.  LINCOLN. 

p.  g. — Also  give  me  a  like  statement  in  the  case  of  Daniel  Sul 
livan,  of  Thirteenth  Regiment  of  Massachusetts  Volunteers,  First 
Army  Corps.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  25,  1863. 

GENERAL  McCALLUM,  Alexandria,  Va. : 

I  have  sent  to  General  Meade,  by  telegraph,  to  suspend  the  exe 
cution  of  Daniel  Sullivan  of  Company  E,  Thirteenth  Massachu- 


APPENDIX  387 

setts,  which  was  to  be  to-day,  but  understanding  there  is  an  inter 
ruption  on  the  line,  may  I  beg  you  to  send  this  to  him  by  the  quick 
est  mode  in  your  power  ?  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  25,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SCHENCK,  Baltimore,  Md.: 
Please  send  Major  Hayner  over  now.  A.   LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  25,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

Owing  to  the  press  in  behalf  of  Daniel  Sullivan,  Company  E, 
Thirteenth  Massachusetts,  and  the  doubt  though  small,  which  you 
express  of  his  guilty  intention,  I  have  concluded  to  say  let  hia 
execution  be  suspended  till  further  order,  and  copy  of  record 
sent  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  26,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  the  Potomac: 

I  am  appealed  to  in  behalf  of  Adam  Wolf,  private  in  Company 
H,  Thirteenth  Massachusetts  Regiment.  Please  answer  as  you 
have  done  in  other  cases.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  29, 1863. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Indianapolis,  Ind. : 

Please  suspend  execution  of  Adam  Davies  till  further  order  from 
me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  30,  1863. 

GENERAL  SCHOFIELD,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 
Following  dispatch  just  received: 

Union  Men  Driven  Out  of  Missouri. 

LEAVENWORTH,  September  29. — Governor  Gamble  having  author 
ized  Colonel  Moss,  of  Liberty,  Mo.,  to  arm  the  men  in  Platte  and 
Clinton  Counties,  he  has  armed  mostly  the  returned  rebel  sol 
diers  and  men  under  bonds.  Moss*  men  are  now  driving  the  UnioD 


388  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

men  out  of  Missouri.  Over  one  hundred  families  crossed  the  river 
to-day.  Many  of  the  wives  of  our  Union  soldiers  have  been  com 
polled  to  leave.  Four  or  five  Union  men  have  been  murdered  by 
Colonel  Moss'  men. 

Please  look  to  this  and  if  true,  in  whole  or  part  put  a  stop  to  it. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

Francis  S.  Corkran,  Baltimore,  Md. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  Sept.  30,  1863. 

HON.  FRANCIS  S.  CORKRAN,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Mrs.  L.  is  now  at  home  and  would  be  pleased  to  see  you  any 
time.  If  the  grape  time  has  not  passed  away,  she  would  be  pleased 
to  join  in  the  enterprise  you  mention.  Yours  truly, 

A.   LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Clarence  G.  Corkran,  Lutherville,  Md.) 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C.,  October  1,  1863. 

GOVERNOR  BRADFORD,  Baltimore,  Md.: 

Please  be  here  in  person  at  12  m.  Saturday  to  fix  up  definitely 
in  writing  the  matter  about  which  Mr.  Johnson  and  Governor 
Hicks  brings  a  communication  from  you.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Please  repeat  to  Annapolis.  A.  L. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  1,  1863. 

GENERAL  TYLER,  Baltimore: 

Take  care  of  colored  troops  in  your  charge,  but  do  nothing  fur 
ther  about  that  branch  of  affairs  until  further  orders.  Particu 
larly  do  nothing  about  General  Vickers  of  Kent  County. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

Send  a  copy  to  Colonel  Birney.  A.  L. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  1,  1863 — 120  p.  m, 

THOMAS  A.  SCOTT,  Louisville,  Ky.: 

Tell  me  how  things  have  advanced  so  far  as  you  know. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  389 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

October  1,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE: 

Let  respite  of  ten  days  be  granted  to  Herman  Barber,  alias  E.  W. 
Von  Heinecke,  sentenced  to  be  shot  to-morrow  for  desertion. 

A.  LINCOLN. 
MAJOR  ECKERT: 

Send  by  telegraph  at  once. 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  3,  1863. 

COLONEL  BIRNEY,  Baltimore,  Md. : 

Please  give  me  as  near  as  you  can,  the  number  of  slaves  you 
have  recruited  in  Maryland.  Of  course  the  number  is  not  to  in 
clude  the  free  colored.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  3,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

Have  you  a  man  in  jeopardy  as  a  deserter  by  the  name  William 
T.  Evers,  private  in  Company  D,  Brooklyn  Fourteenth  State  Mil 
itia,  or  Eighty-fourth  Volunteers?  If  you  have  please  send  me 
the  facts  and  conditions  of  his  case.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  4,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

I  am  appealed  to  in  behalf  of  Daniel  Hanson,  of  Ninety-seventh 
New  York,  said  to  be  under  sentence  of  death  for  desertion.  Please 
inform  me  as  usual.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  5,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

Yesterday  I  inquired  of  you  about  Daniel  Hanson,  private  in 
Ninety-seventh  New  York,  said  to  be  under  sentence  of  death  for 
desertion.  I  fear  you  did  not  receive  the  dispatch.  Please  answer. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  7,  1863. 

GOVERNOR  JOHNSON,  Nashville,  Tenn: 

What  news  have  you  from  Kosecrans'  army,  or  in  that  direction 
beyond  Nashville?  A.  LINCOLN, 


390  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  8,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

I  am  appealed  to  in  behalf  of  August  Blittersdorf ,  at  Mitchell's 
Station,  Va.,  to  be  shot  to-morrow  as  a  deserter.  I  am  unwilling 
for  any  boy  under  eighteen  to  be  shot,  and  his  father  affirms 
that  he  is  yet  under  sixteen.  Please  answer.  His  regiment  or 
company  not  given  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  8,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

I  am  appealed  to  in  behalf  of  John  Murphy,  to  be  shot  to 
morrow.    His  mother  says  he  is  but  seventeen.    Please  answer. 

A.   LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  8,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

The  boy  telegraphs  from  Mitchell's  Station,  Va.  The  father 
thinks  he  is  in  the  One  hundred  and  nineteenth  Pennsylvania  Vol 
unteers.  The  father  signs  the  name  "Blittersdorf."  I  can  tell 
no  more.  A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  11, 1863—9.50  a.  m. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 
How  is  it  now?  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  12,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

The  father  and  mother  of  John  Murphy,  of  the  One  hundred 
and  nineteenth  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  have  filed  their  own  affi 
davits  that  he  was  born  June  22,  1846,  and  also  the  affidavits  of 
three  other  persons  who  all  swear  that  they  remembered  the  cir 
cumstances  of  his  birth  and  that  it  was  in  the  year  1846,  though 
they  do  not  remember  the  particular  day.  I  therefore  on  account 
of  his  tender  age,  have  concluded  to  pardon  him,  and  to  leave  it 
to  yourself,  whether  to  discharge  him  or  continue  him  in  the 
service.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  391 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  13,  1863. 
McVEiGH,  Philadelphia: 

The  enemy  some  days  ago  made  a  movement,  apparently  to  turn 
General  Meade's  right.  This  led  to  a  maneuvering  of  the  two 
armies  and  to  pretty  heavy  skirmishing  on  Saturday,  Sunday  and 
Monday.  We  have  frequent  dispatches  from  General  Meade,  and 
up  to  10  o'clock  last  night  nothing  had  happened  giving  either 
side  any  marked  advantage.  Our  army  reported  to  be  in  excellent 
condition.  The  telegraph  is  open  to  General  Meade's  camp  this 
morning,  but  we  have  not  troubled  him  for  a  dispatch. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  13,  1863. 

HON.  J.  K.  MOOREHEAD,  Pittsburg,  Pa.: 

Not  unless  you  think  it  necessary.  A.   LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  14,  1863—3.35. 

WAYNE  MCVEIGH,  Philadelphia: 
How  does  it  stand  now  2  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  0. 
GOVERNOR  CURTIN,  Harrisburg,  Pa.: 

How  does  it  stand  ?  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  October  15,  1863. 

HON.  JAMES  W.  GRIMES,  Burlington,  Iowa: 

Thanks  for  your  Iowa  election  news.  I  suppose  you  know  that 
Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  are  all  right.  Governor  Morton  telegraphs 
that  county  elections  in  Indiana  have  gone  largely  in  the  same 
direction.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  15,  1863. 

MAJ.  HERMAN  KEITEZ,  Cumberland,  Md. : 

Suspend  execution  of  Dennis  McCarty  till  further  order  from 
here.  If  McCarty  has  been  removed  send  this  to  the  officer  where 
he  is.  A.  LINCOLN. 


392  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  15, 1863. 

L.  B.  TODD,  Lexington,  Ky. : 

I  send  the  following  pass  to  your  care. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

"  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  15, 1863. 
To  whom  it  may  concern : 

Allow  Mrs.  Kobert  S.  Todd,  widow,  to  go  South  and  bring  her 
daughter  Mrs.  General  B.  Hardin  Helm,  with  her  children  north 
to  Kentucky.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  15, 1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  FOSTER,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. : 

Postpone  the  execution  of  Dr.  Wright  to  Friday  the  23d  instant, 
(October).  This  is  intended  for  his  preparation  and  is  final. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  15,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEAJTO,  Army  of  Potomac: 

On  the  4th  instant  you  telegraphed  me  that  Private  Daniel  Han 
son,  of  Ninety-seventh  New  York  Volunteers,  had  not  yet  been 
tried.  When  he  shall  be,  please  notify  me  of  the  result,  with  a 
brief  statement  of  his  case,  if  he  be  convicted.  Gustave  Blit- 
tersdorf,  whom  you  say  is  enlisted  in  the  One  hundred  and  nine 
teenth  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  as  William  Fox,  is  proven  to 
me  to  be  only  fifteen  years  old  last  January.  I  pardon  him,  and 
you  will  discharge  him  or  put  him  in  the  ranks  at  your  discre 
tion.  Mathias  Brown,  of  Nineteenth  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  is 
proven  to  me  to  be  eighteen  last  May,  and  his  friends  say  he  is 
convicted  on  an  enlistment  and  for  a  desertion,  both  before  that 
time.  If  this  last  be  true  he  is  pardoned,  to  be  kept  or  discharged 
as  you  please.  If  not  true  suspend  his  execution  and  report  the 
facts  of  his  case.  Did  you  receive  my  dispatch  of  12th  pardoning 
John  Murphy?  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  16,  1863. 

HON.  S.  P.  CHASE,  Cincinnati  and  Columbus,  Ohio: 

If  Judge  Lawrence  cannot  go  to  Key  West  at  once,  I  shall  have 
to  appoint  another.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  393 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  16,  1863. 

THOMAS  W.  SWEENEY,  Continental,  Philadelphia : 

Tad  is  teasing  me  to  have  you  forward  his  pistol  to  him, 

A.   LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  16,  1863. 

T.  C.  DURANT,  New  York: 

I  remember  receiving  nothing  from  you  of  the  10th,  and  I  do 
not  comprehend  your  dispatch  of  to-day.  In  fact  I  do  not  remem 
ber,  if  I  ever  knew  who  you  are,  and  I  have  very  little  concep 
tion  as  to  what  you  are  telegraphing  about.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  16,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

Have  you  in  custody  for  desertion  a  man  by  the  name  of  Jacob 
Schwarz,  a  Swiss  ?  If  so  please  send  a  short  statement  of  his  case. 
Neither  his  company,  regiment  or  corps  is  given  me. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  17,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BURNSIDE,  Knoxville,  Tenn. : 

I  am  greatly  interested  to  know  how  many  new  troops  of  ail 
sorts  you  have  raised  in  Tennessee.  Please  inform  me. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  Q.,  October  17,  1863. 

HON.  SIMON  CAMERON,  Harrisburg,  Pa.: 

I  forgot  to  notify  you  that  your  dispatch  of  day  before  yesterday 
was  duly  received,  and  immediately  attended  to  in  the  best  way 
we  could  think  of.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  17,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SLOCUM,  Stevenson,  Ala.: 

Please  have  a  medical  examination  made  of  William  Brown, 
private  in  Company  C,  Fifth  Connecticut  Volunteers,  and  report 
the  result  to  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 


394  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  17,  1863. 

HON.  \VILLIAM  B.  THOMAS,  Philadelphia,  Pa.: 

I  am  grateful  for  your  offer  of  100,000  men,  but  as  at  present 
advised  I  do  not  consider  that  Washington  is  in  danger,  or  that 
there  is  any  emergency  requiring  60  or  90  days  men. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  17,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  FOSTER,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. : 

It  would  be  useless  for  Mrs.  Dr.  Wright  to  come  here.  The  sub 
ject  is  a  very  painful  one,  but  the  case  is  settled.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C.,  October  18, 1863. 

T.  C.  DURANT,  New  York: 

As  I  do  with  others,  so  I  will  try  to  see  you  when  you  come. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  20,  1863. 

COL.  DONN  PIATT,  Baltimore,  Md. : 

If  the  young  men  seem  to  know  anything  of  importance,  send 
them  over.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  20,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  BURNSIDE, 
BRIG.  GEN.  J.  T.  BOYLE,  Louisville,  Ky.: 

Let  execution  of  sentence  of  Lee  W.  Long  be  suspended  until 
further  order.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  22,  1863. 

MILITARY  COMMANDER,  Evansville,  Ind. : 

A  certain  Major  Long,  I  believe  Lee  W.  Long,  is  by  sentence  of 
court-martial,  or  military  commission,  to  be  executed  soon  on  the 
30th  instant,  I  think  at  Evansville.  I  have  directed  execution  of 
the  sentence  to  be  suspended  till  further  order.  Please  act  accord 
ingly.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  395 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  0.,  October  25, 1863. 

GENERAL  J.  T.  BOYLE,  Louisville,  Ky. : 

Let  the  order  suspending  the  execution  of  Long  apply  also  to  the 
case  of  Woolf  oik.  A.   LINCOLN. 


(Cypher)  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  28, 1863. 

HON.  ANDREW  JOHNSON,  Nashville,  Tenn.: 

If  not  too  inconvenient,  please  come  at  once  and  have  a  personal 
conversation  with  me,  A.   LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  29, 1863. 
T.  J.  CARTER,  New  York: 

I  made  your  appointment  yesterday,  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  undertook  to  send  it  to  you.  I  suppose  it  will  reach  you 
to-day.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  29, 1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac : 

I  see  in  a  newspaper  that  you  have  recently  approved  sentences 
of  death  for  desertion  of  Thomas  Sands,  James  Haley,  H.  H.  Wil 
liams,  Mathias  Brown,  alias  Albert  Brown,  H.  C.  Beardsley,  and 
George  F.  Perkins.  Several  of  these  are  persons  in  behalf  of  whom 
appeals  have  been  made  to  me.  Please  send  me  a  short  statement 
of  each  one  of  the  cases,  stating  the  age  of  each,  so  far  as  you  can. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


Hon.  James  W.  Grimes. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Oct.  29,  1863. 

HON.  JAMES  W.  GRIMES. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  The  above  act  of  congress  was  passed,  as  I  sup 
pose,  for  the  purpose  of  shutting  out  improper  applicants  for  seats 
in  the  House  of  Representatives;  and  I  fear  there  is  some  danger 
that  it  will  be  used  to  shut  out  proper  ones.  Iowa,  having  an  en 
tire  Union  delegation,  will  be  one  of  the  States  the  attempt  will 
be  made,  if  upon  any.  The  Governor  doubtless  has  made  out  the 
certificates,  and  they  are  already  in  the  hands  of  the  members.  I 
suggest  that  they  come  on  with  them;  but  that,  for  greater  caution, 


396  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

you,  and  perhaps  Mr.  Harlan  with  you,  consult  with  the  Governor, 
and  have  an  additional  set  made  out  according  to  the  form  on 
the  other  half  of  this  sheet;  and  still  another  set,  if  you  can,  by 
studying  the  law,  think  of  a  form  that  in  your  judgment,  promises 
additional  security,  and  quietly  bring  the  whole  on  with  you,  to 
be  used  in  case  of  necessity.  Let  what  you  do  be  kept  still. 

Yours  truly, 

A.   LINCOLN. 

(Original,  owned  by  Hist.  Dept.  of  Iowa.  Loaned  by  Charles 
Aldrich,  Des  Moines,  Iowa.) 

(Cypher)     .  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  30, 1863. 

HON.  F.  F.  LOWE,  San  Francisco,  Cal. : 

Below  is  an  act  of  Congress,  passed  last  session,  intended  to  ex 
clude  applicants  not  entitled  to  seats,  but  which  there  is  reason  to 
fear,  will  be  used  to  exclude  some  who  are  entitled.  Please  get  with 
the  Governor  and  one  or  two  other  discreet  friends,  study  the  act 
carefully,  and  make  certificates  in  two  or  three  forms,  according  to 
your  best  judgment,  and  have  them  sent  to  me,  so  as  to  multiply  the 
chances  of  the  delegation  getting  their  seats.  Let  it  be  done  with 
out  publicity.  Below  is  a  form  which  may  answer  for  one.  If  you 
could  procure  the  same  to  be  done  for  the  Oregon  member  it  might 
be  well.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Act  to  regulate  the  duties  of  the  clerk  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  in  preparing  for  the  Organization  of  the  House. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That,  before  the 
first  meeting  of  the  next  Congress,  and  of  every  subsequent  Con 
gress,  the  Clerk  of  the  next  preceding  House  of  Representatives 
shall  make  a  roll  of  the  representatives  elect  and  place  thereon  the 
names  of  all  persons,  and  of  such  persons  only,  whose  credentials 
show  that  they  were  regularly  elected  in  accordance  with  the  laws 
of  their  States  respectively,  or  the  law  of  the  United  States. 

Approved  March  3,  1863. 

By  His  Excellency 

Governor  of  the  State  of  California. 

I, ,  Governor  of  the  State  of  .California,  do  hereby 

certify  and  make  known  that  the  following  persons,  namely : 
Names.  Districts. 

have  been  regularly  elected  members  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  of  the  United  States  for  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  and  for 


APPENDIX  397 

the  districts  above  mentioned,  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the 
said  State  and  of  the  United  States,  and  that  they  only  have  been 
so  elected. 

IN  TESTIMONY  THEKEOF,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand 
and  caused  the seal  of  the  said  State  to  be  affixed. 


Secretary  of  State. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  0.,  October  30,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac : 

Much  obliged  for  the  information  about  deserters  contained  in 
your  dispatch  of  yesterday,  while  I  have  to  beg  your  pardon  for 
troubling  you  in  regard  to  some  of  them,  when,  as  it  appears  by 
yours,  I  had  the  means  of  answering  my  own  questions. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  31, 1863. 

HON.  ABRAM  WAKEMAN,  New  York : 

Hanscom's  dispatch  just  received.  Have  made  careful  inquiry 
as  to  the  truth  of  assertions  you  refer  to  and  find  them  unfounded. 
The  provost-marshal-general  has  issued  no  proclamation  at  all.  He 
has  in  no  form  announced  anything  recently  in  regard  to  troops  in 
New  York,  except  in  his  letter  to  Governor  Seymour  of  October  21, 
which  has  been  published  in  the  newspapers  of  that  State. 

JOHN  HAY. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  31, 1863. . 

SAINT  NICHOLAS  HOTEL  OFFICE,  New  York : 

Not  knowing  whether  Colonel  Parsons  could  be  spared  from  duty 
elsewhere  to  come  to  Washington,  I  referred  Governor  Yates's  dis 
patch  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  who  I  presume  still  holds  it  under 
advisement.  A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  31,  1863. 

L.  B.  TODD,  Lexington,  Ky. : 

I  sent  the  pass  by  telegraph  more  than  ten  days  ago.    Did  you 
not  receive  it?  !A.  LINCOLN* 


398  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  1,  1863. 

J.  B.  SHEPPARD,  Harper's  Ferry,  Md. : 

Yours  of  this  morning  received,  and  the  Secretary  of  War  is  at 
tending  to  your  request.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  1,  1863. 

HON.  W.  H.  SEWARD,  Auburn,  N.  Y.: 

No  important  news.  Details  of  Hooker's  night  fight  do  great 
credit  to  his  command,  and  particularly  to  the  Eleventh  Corps 
and  Geary's  part  of  the  Twelfth.  No  discredit  on  any. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  November  3,  1863. 

ABRAM  KEQUA,  New  York: 

I  know  nothing  whatever  of  Lieutenant  Lobring,  about  whose 
case  you  telegraph.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  November  3,  1863. 

HON.  W.  H.  SEWARD,  Auburn,  N.  Y.: 

Nothing  new.  Dispatches  up  to  12  last  night  from  Chattanooga 
show  all  quiet  and  doing  well.  How  is  your  son  ? 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  November  3,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

Samuel  Wellers,  private  in  Company  B,  Forty-ninth  Pennsyl 
vania  Volunteers,  writes  that  he  is  to  be  shot  for  desertion  on  the 
6th  instant.  His  own  story  is  rather  a  bad  one,  and  yet  he  tells  it 
so  frankly,  that  I  am  somewhat  interested  in  him.  Has  he  been 
a  good  soldier  except  the  desertion  ?  About  how  old  is  he  ? 

A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  5,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

Please  suspend  the  execution  of  Samuel  Wellers,  Forty-ninth 
Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  until  further  orders.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  399 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  November  8,  1863. 

WILLIAM  B.  ASTOR,  EGBERT  B.  KOSEVELT,  New  York : 

I  shall  be  happy  to  give  the  interview  to  the  committee  as  you 
request.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  9,  1863. 

MAJOR  MULFORD,  Fort  Monroe: 
Let  Mrs.  Clark  go  with  Mrs.  Todd.  A.   LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  10,  1863. 

GENERAL  SCHOFIELD,  Saint  Louis,  Mo. : 

1  see  a  dispatch  here  from  Saint  Louis,  which  is  a  little  difficult 
for  me  to  understand.  It  says  "  General  Schofield  has  refused 
leave  of  absence  to  members  in  military  service  to  attend  the  leg 
islature.  All  such  are  radical  and  administration  men.  The  elec 
tion  of  two  Senators  from  this  place  on  Thursday  will  probably 
turn  upon  this  thing."  What  does  this  mean  ?  Of  course  members 
of  the  legislation  must  be  allowed  to  attend  its  sessions.  But 
how  is  there  a  session  before  the  recent  election  returns  are  in? 
And  how  is  it  to  be  at  "this  place"— and  that  is  Saint  Louis? 
Please  inform  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  11, 1863. 

GENERAL  SCHOFIELD,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

I  believe  the  Secretary  of  War  has  telegraphed  you  about  mem 
bers  of  the  legislation.  At  all  events,  allow  those  in  the  service 
to  attend  the  session,  and  we  can  afterward  decide  whether  they 
can  stay  through  the  entire  session.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  11, 1863. 
HON.  HIRAM  BARNEY,  New  York: 

I  would  like  an  interview  with  you.    Can  you  not  come? 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  11, 1863. 

JOHN  MILDERBORGER,  Peru,  Ind.: 

I  cannot  comprehend  the  object  of  your  dispatch.  I  do  not  often 
decline  seeing  people  who  call  upon  me,  and  probably  will  see  you  if 
you  call.  A.  LINCOLN. 


400  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  November  12,  1863. 

GENERAL  VAUGHAN,  or  officer  in  command,  Lexington,  Mo. : 

Let  execution  of  William  H.  Ogden  be  suspended  until  further 
order  from  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  13,  1863. 

E.  H.  &  E.  JAMESON,  Jefferson  City,  Mo.: 

Yours  saying  Brown  and  Henderson  are  elected  senators  is  re 
ceived.  I  understand  this  is  one  and  one.  If  so  it  is  knocking 
heads  together  to  some  purpose.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  November  16,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BURNSIDE,  Knoxville,  Tenn.: 
What  is  the  news?         ,  A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  November  20,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SCIIEXOK,  Baltimore,  Md.: 

It  is  my  wish  that  neither  Maynadier,  nor  Gordon  be  executed 
without  my  further  order.  Please  act  upon  this.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  20,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

If  there  is  a  man  by  the  name  of  King  under  sentence  to  be 
shot,  please  suspend  execution  till  further  order,  and  send  record. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  November  20,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

An  intelligent  woman  in  deep  distress,  called  this  morning,  saying 
her  husband,  a  lieutenant  in  the  Army  of  Potomac,  was  to  be  shot 
next  Monrlay  for  desertion,  and  putting  a  letter  in  my  hand,  upon 
which  I  relied  for  particulars,  she  left  without  mentioning  a  name 
or  other  particular  by  which  to  identify  the  case.  On  opening 
the  letter  I  found  it  equally  vague,  having  nothing  to  identify 
by,  except  her  own  signature,  which  seems  to  be  "  Mrs.  Anna  S. 
King."  I  could  not  again  find  her.  If  you  have  a  case  which  you 
shall  think  is  probably  the  one  intended,  please  apply  my  dispatch 
of  this  morning  to  it.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  401 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  23, 1863. 

E.  P.  EVANS,  West  Union,  Adams  County,  Ohio : 

Yours  to  Governor  Chase  in  behalf  of  John  A.  Welch  is  before 
me.  Can  there  be  a  worse  case  than  to  desert  and  with  letters 
persuading  others  to  desert?  I  cannot  interpose  without  a  better 
showing  than  you  make.  When  did  he  desert?  When  did  he 
write  the  letters?  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  November  23,  1863. 

HON.  GREEN  CLAY  SMITH,  Covington,  Ky. : 

I  am  told  that  John  A.  Welch  is  under  sentence  as  a  deserter  to 
be  shot  at  Covington  on  the  llth  of  December.  Please  bring  a  copy 
of  the  record  and  other  facts  of  his  case  with  you  when  you  come. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  24, 1863. 

MILITARY  OFFICER  IN  COMMAND,  Cincinnati,  Ohio: 

Please  suspend  execution  of  sentence  against  E.  A.  Smith,  until 
further  order,  meantime  send  me  a  copy  of  record  of  his  trial. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  November  25,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Commanding  Army  of  the  Potomac: 

Suspend  execution  in  case  of  Adolphus  Morse,  Seventy-sixth 
New  Ycrk,  deserter,  and  send  record  to  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

November  25,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE: 

The  sentence  in  the  case  of  Privt.  Moses  Giles,  Company  B, 
Seventh  Maine  Volunteers,  is  suspended  until  further  orders. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

December  2,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE: 

The  sentence  in  the  case  of  Privt.  H.  Morris  Husband,  Ninety- 
ninth  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  (now  of  Third  Army  Corps  First 
Division)  is  suspended  until  further  orders.  Let  the  record  Ve 
forwarded  to  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(26) 


402  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  3,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE: 

Please  suspend  execution  of  Frederick  Foster  until  the  record 
can  be  examined.  A.   LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  3,  1883. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE: 

Governor  Seymour  especially  asks  that  Isaac  C.  White  sentenced 
to  death  for  desertion  be  reprieved.  I  wish  this  done. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE: 

The  sentences  in  the  cases  of  Brice  Birdsill,  private  Company 
B,  One  hundred  and  twenty-fourth  New  York  Volunteers,  and 
Frederick  Foster,  of  Ninety-ninth  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  are 
suspended  until  further  orders.  Let  the  records  be  forwarded  at 
once.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  3,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE: 

Please  suspend  execution  in  case  of  William  A.  Gammon, 
Seventh  Maine,  and  send  record  to  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

8end  by  telegraph  and  oblige,  yours  very  truly, 

JOHN  HAT, 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE: 

The  sentences  in  the  cases  of  Private  John  L.  Keatly,  and  James 
Halter,  Company  I,  Second  Delaware  Volunteers,  are  suspended 
until  further  orders.  Let  the  records  be  at  once  forwarded. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  4,  1863 — 9  1-2  a.  m. 

MRS.  A.  LINCOLN,  Metropolitan,  New  York: 
All  going  welL  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  5,  1863 — 10  a.  m. 

MRS.  A.  LINCOLN,  Metropolitan  Hotel,  New  York: 
All  doing  well.  A.   LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX 


403 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  0.,  December  6,  1863. 

MRS.  A.  LINCOLN,  Metropolitan  Hotel,  New  York: 
All  doing  well.  A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  7,  1863—10.20  a.  m. 

MRS.  A.  LINCOLN,  Metropolitan  Hotel,  New  York: 

All  doing  well.  Tad  confidently  expects  you  to-night.  When 
will  you  come?  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  7,  1863—7  p.  m. 

MRS.  A.  LINCOLN,  Metropolitan  Hotel,  New  York: 

Tad  has  received  his  book.  The  carriage  shall  be  ready  at  ff 
p.  m.  to-morrow.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Charles  P.  Kirkland,  New  York. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  Dec.  7,  1863. 

CHARLES  P.  KIRKLAND,  ESQ.,  New  York. 

I  have  just  received  and  have  read  your  published  letter  to  the 
Hon.  Benjamin  K.  Curtis.  Under  the  circumstances  I  may  not  be 
the  most  competent  judge,  but  it  appears  to  me  to  be  a  paper  of 
great  ability,  and  for  the  country's  sake  more  than  for  my  own  I 
thank  you  for  it.  Yours  very  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Miss  Julia  Kirkland,  Utica,  N.  Y.) 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  9,  1863. 
JUDGE  ADVOCATE-GENERAL  : 

COLONEL:  The  President  desires  me  to  request  that  you  will 
order  the  execution  of  these  men  to  be  suspended  until  the  records 
can  be  examined,  using  the  President's  signature  to  your  dispatch. 

Yours  truly,  JOHN  HAY. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  10,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. : 

Please  suspend  execution  in  any  and  all  sentences  of  death 
in  your  department  until  further  orders.  A.  LINCOLN. 


404  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December  10,  1863. 

OFFICER  IN  MILITARY  COMMAND,  Covington,  Ky. : 

Let  the  execution  of  John  A.  Welch,  under  sentence  to  be  shot 
for  desertion  to-morrow,  be  suspended  until  further  order  from  here. 

A.   LINCOLN. 


December  11,  1863. 

BRIGADIER-GENERAL  LOCKWOOD,  Baltimore,  Md.: 

The  sentences  in  the  cases  of  Privates  William  Irons,  Company 
D,  and  Jesse  Lewis,  Company  E,  Fifth  Maryland  Volunteers,  or 
dered  to  be  carried  into  execution  to-day,  is  hereby  suspended  until 
further  orders.  A.  LINCOLN. 


(Cypher)  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  December  11,  1863. 

GENERAL  J.  M.  SCHOFIELD,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 
Please  come  to  see  me  at  once.  A.   LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  11,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  the  Potomac : 

Lieut.  Col.  James  B.  Knox,  Tenth  Regiment  Pennsylvania  Re 
serves,  offers  his  resignation  under  circumstances  inducing  me  to 
wish  to  accept  it.  But  I  prefer  to  know  your  pleasure  upon  the 
subject.  Please  answer.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  12,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE: 

Please  suspend  execution  of  sentence  in  case  of  William  F.  Good 
win,  Company  B,  Seventeenth  Infantry,  and  forward  the  record 
for  my  examination.  A.  LINCOLN. 


(Cypher)  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December  13,  1863. 

GENERAL  J.  M.  SCHOPIELD,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

On  the  llth  I  telegraphed  asking  you  to  come  here  and  see  me. 
Did  you  receive  the  dispatch?  A.   LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  405- 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  14,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADB: 

Please  suspend  execution  in  case  of  William  Gibson,  Fourth 
Maine  Kegiment  until  further  order  and  send  record. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  14,  1863. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE: 

Please  suspend  execution  of  Lewis  Beers,  Fourteenth  TJ.  S.  In 
fantry,  and  of  William  J.  Hazlett,  One  hundred  and  nineteenth 
Pennsylvania  Volunteers  and  send  record.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  15,  1863. 

MOTHER  MARY  GONYEAG,  Superior,  Academy  of  Visitation,  Keokuk, 

Iowa: 

The  President  has  no  authority  as  to  whether  you  may  raffle  for 
the  benevolent  object  you  mention.  If  there  is  no  objection  in  the 
Iowa  laws,  there  is  none  here.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December  17,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  HURLBUT,  Memphis,  Tenn.: 

I  understand  you  have  under  sentence  of  death,  a  tall  old  man, 
by  the  name  of  Henry  F.  Luckett.  I  personally  knew  him,  and 
did  not  think  him  a  bad  man.  Please  do  not  let  him  be  executed 
unless  upon  further  order  from  me,  and  in  the  meantime  send  me  a 
transcript  of  the  record.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December  21,  1863. 

GOVERNOR  PIERPOINT,  Alexandria,  Va. : 
Please  come  up  and  see  me  to-day.  A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December  21,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Fort  Monroe,  Va.: 

It  is  said  that  William  H.  Blake  is  under  sentence  of  death  at 
Fort  Magruder,  in  your  department.  Do  not  let  him  be  executed 
without  further  order  from  me,  and  in  foe  meantime  have  the 
record  sent  me.  He  is  said  to  belong  to  the  First  or  Second  Penn« 
sylvania  Artillery.  A.  LINCOLN. 


406  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  22,  1863. 

MILITARY  COMMANDER,  Point  Lookout,  Md. : 

If  you  have  a  prisoner  by  the  name  Linder — Daniel  Linder,  1 
think,  and  certainly  the  son  of  U.  F.  Linder,  of  Illinois,  please 
send  him  to  me  by  an  officer.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December  24,  1863. 

MILITARY  COMMANDER,  Point  Lookout,  Md. : 

If  you  send  Linder  to  me  as  directed  a  day  or  two  ago,  also 
send  Edwin  0.  Claybrook,  of  Ninth  Virginia  rebel  cavalry. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December  26, 1863. 

HON.  U.  F.  LINDER,  Chicago,  HI.: 

Your  son  Dan  has  just  left  me  with  my  order  to  the  Secretary  of 
War,  to  administer  to  him  the  oath  of  allegiance,  discharge  him 
and  send  him  to  you.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  26,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BURNSIDE,  Providence,  R.  I.: 

Yours  in  relation  to  Privates  Eaton  and  Burrows,  of  the  Sixth 
New  Hampshire,  is  received.  When  you  reach  here  about  New 
Year,  call  on  me  and  we  will  fix  it  up,  or  I  will  do  it  sooner  if  you 
say  so.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  26,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  the  Potomac: 

If  Christopher  Delker,  of  the  Sixty-first  Pennsylvania  Volun 
teers,  is  under  sentence  of  death,  do  not  execute  him  till  further 
order.  Whenever  it  shall  be  quite  convenient  I  shall  be  glad  to 
have  a  conference  with  you  about  this  class  of  cases. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December  29,  1863. 

MA  JOB-GENERAL  BURNSIDE,  Providence,  E.  L: 

You  may  telegraph  Eaton  and  Burrows  that  these  cases  will  be 
disposed  of  according  to  your  request  when  you  come  to  Wash 
ington  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  407 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  29,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

I  am  appealed  to  in  behalf  of  Joseph  Kichardson  of  Forty-ninth 
Pennsylvania,  and  Moses  Chadbourne,  (in  some  New  Hampshire 
Kegiment)  said  to  be  under  sentence  for  desertion.  As  in  other 
cases  do  not  let  them  be  executed  until  further  order. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  30,  1863. 

GENERAL  BOYLE,  Louisville,  Ey.: 

It  is  said  that  Corporal  Robert  L.  Crowell,  of  Company  E,  Twen 
tieth  Kentucky  Volunteer  Infantry,  is  under  sentence  to  be  shot 
on  the  8th  of  January  at  Louisville.  Do  not  let  the  sentence  be 
executed  until  further  order  from  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December  30,  1863. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Fort  Monroe,  Va.: 

Jacob  Bowers  is  fully  pardoned  for  past  offence,  upon  condition 
that  he  returns  to  duty  and  re-enlists  for  three  years  or  during 
the  war.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  1, 1864 — 3.30  p.  m. 

GENERAL  STTLLIVAN,  Harper's  Ferry: 

Have  you  anything  new  from  Winchester,  Martinsburg  or  there 
abouts?  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  2,  1864. 

GOVERNOR  PIERPOINT,  Alexandria,  Va. : 

Please  call  and  see  me  to-day  if  not  too  inconvenient. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  3,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  HURLBUT,  Memphis,  Tenn.: 

Suspend  execution  of  sentence  of  Privt.  Peter  Fingle  of  Four 
teenth  Iowa  Volunteers,  and  forward  record  of  trial  for  examina 
tion.  A.  LINCOLN. 


408  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  3,  1864. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE: 

Suspend  the  execution  of  Prvt.  Joseph  Kichardson,  Forty-ninth 
Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  who  is  sentenced  to  be  shot  to-morrow, 
and  forward  record  of  trial  for  examination.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  above  dispatch.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  5,  1864. 

MRS.  LINCOLN,  Continental  Hotel,  Philadelphia,  Pa,: 
All  very  well.  A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  5,  1864. 

GENERAL  BOYLE,  Camp  Nelson,  Ky.: 

Execution  in  the  cases  of  Burrow  and  Eaton  is  suspended,  as 
stated  by  General  Burnside.  Let  this  be  taken  as  an  order  to  that 
effect.  I  do  not  remember  receiving  any  appeal  in  behalf  of  God- 
dard,  Crowell,  Prickett,  or  Smith,  and  yet  I  may  have  sent  a 
dispatch  in  regard  to  some  of  them.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  5,  1864. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE: 

If  not  inconsistent  with  the  service,  please  allow  General  Wil 
liam  Harrow  as  long  a  leave  of  absence  as  the  rules  permit  with  the 
understanding  that  I  may  lengthen  it  if  I  see  fit.  He  is  an  acquaint 
ance  and  friend  of  mine,  and  his  family  matters  very  urgently 
require  his  presence.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  6,  1864. 

GENERAL  BOYLE,  Camp  Nelson,  Ky. : 

Let  execution  in  the  cases  of  Goddard,  Crowell,  Prickett,  and 
Smith,  mentioned  by  you  be  suspended  till  further  order. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  7,  1864. 

MRS.  A.  LINCOLN,  Philadelphia,  Pa. : 
We  are  all  well  and  have  not  been  otherwise.        A.  LINCOLN; 


APPENDIX  409 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  0.,  January  7,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND,  Covington,  Ky. : 

The  death  sentence  of  Henry  Andrews  is  commuted  to  impris 
onment  at  hard  labor  during  the  remainder  of  the  war. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  9,  1864. 

HON.  SIMON  CAMERON,  Harrisburg,  Pa.: 

Your  two  letters  one  of  the  6th  and  the  other  of  the  7th  both 
received.  A.   LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  11,  1864. 

R.  T.  LINCOLN,  Cambridge,  Mass.: 

I  send  you  draft  to-day.    How  are  you  now?    Answer  by  tele 
graph  at  once.  A.   LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  12,  1864. 

GOVERNOR  0.  P.  MORTON,  Indianapolis,  Ind.: 

I  have  telegraphed  to  Chattanooga  suspending  execution  of  Wil 
liam  Jeffries  until  further  order  from  me.  A.   LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  12, 1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  GRANT  OR  MAJOR-GENERAL  THOMAS,  Chattanooga, 

Tenn. : 

Let  execution  of  the  death  sentence  upon  William  Jeffries,  of 
Company  A,  Sixth  Indiana  Volunteers,  be  suspended  until  further 
order  from  here.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  13,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Fortress  Monroe,  Va. : 

Let  Wilson  B.  Kevas,  Third  Pennsylvania  Artillery,  be  respited 
until  further  orders.  A.   LINCOLN. 


4io  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  0.,  January  14, 1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  the  Potomac: 

Suspend  execution  of  the  death  sentence  in  the  case  of  Allen  G. 
Maxson,  corporal  in  Company  D,  in  First  Michigan  Volunteers, 
until  further  order.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  15,  1864. 

GOVERNOR  BROUGH,  Columbus,  Ohio : 

If  Private  William  G.  Toles,  of  Fifty-ninth  Ohio  Volunteers, 
returns  to  his  regiment  and  faithfully  serves  out  his  term,  he  is 
fully  pardoned  for  all  military  offenses  prior  to  this. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  16,  1864. 

GENERAL  SULLIVAN,  Harper's  Ferry: 

Please  state  to  me  the  reasons  of  the  arrest  of  Capt.  William 
Firey,  of  Major  Coles'  battalion,  at  Charlestown. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  16,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL,  MEADE  or  MAJOR-GENERAL  SEDGWICK,  Army  of  the 

Potomac : 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  Joseph  W.  Clifton,  of 
Sixth  New  Jersey  Volunteers,  until  further  order. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  19,  1864. 

COL.  JOHN  CLARK,  Third  Eegiment  of  Pennsylvania  Keserves,  Al 
exandria,  Va. : 

Where  is  John  Wilson,  under  sentence  of  desertion,  of  whom  you 
wrote  Hon.  Mr.  Thayer  yesterday?  A.  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  19,  1864. 

R.  T.  LINCOLN,  Cambridge,  Mass. : 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  small-pox  here.  Your  friends  must 
judge  for  themselves  whether  they  ought  to  conv*  or  not. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  41 

MAJOR  ECKEBT: 
Please  send  above  dispatch.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  20,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Fort  Monroe: 

Please  suspend  executions  until  further  order,  in  the  cases  of 
Private  Henry  Wooding,  of  Company  C,  Eighth  Connecticut  Vol 
unteers,  and  Private  Albert  A.  Lacy,  of  Company  H,  Fourth  Rhode 
Island  Volunteers.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  20,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER: 

If  Henry  C.  Fuller,  of  Company  C,  One  hundred  and  eighteenth 
New  York  Volunteers,  under  sentence  of  death  for  desertion,  has 
not  been  executed,  suspend  his  execution  until  further  order. 

A.   LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  20,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  O'EDGWICK,  Army  of  the  Potomac: 

Please  suspend  execution  of  John  Wilson,  of  Seventy-first  Penn 
sylvania,  under  sentence  for  desertion,  till  further  order. 

A.   LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  20,  1864. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  SEDGWICK: 

Suspend  execution  till  further  order  in  case  of  Private  James 
Lane,  Company  B,  Seventy-first  New  York  Volunteers. 

A.   LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  22,  1864. 

MILITARY  COMMANDER,  Fort  Independence : 

Suspend  until  further  order  execution  of  Charles  E.  Belts,  of 
Twelfth  Massachusetts,  and  send  me  the  record  of  his  trial. 

A.   LINCOLN. 


4i2  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  23,  1864. 

MAJ.  GEN.  C.  C.  WASHBURNE,  Care  of  C.  &  G.  Woodman,  No.  33 

Pine  street,  New  York  City : 

Your  brother  wishes  you  to  visit  Washington,  and  this  is  your 
authority  to  do  so.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  25,  1864. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE: 

Suspend  execution  of  sentence  Samuel  Tyler,  of  Company  G, 
Third  Regiment  New  Jersey  Volunteers,  in  First  Brigade,  First 
Division,  Sixth  Corps,  and  forward  record  for  examination. 

A.  LINCOLN. 
MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  above  dispatch  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  25,  1864. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE: 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  Robert  Gill,  ordered  to  be 
shot  on  the  29th  instant,  and  forward  record  for  examination. 

A.   LINCOLN. 
MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  above  dispatch.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  26,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Fort  Monroe: 

Some  days  ago  a  dispatch  was  sent  to  stay  execution  of  James 
C.  Grattan,  and  perhaps  some  others,  which  has  not  been  answered. 
Please  answer.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  26,  1864. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  SEDGWICK: 

Your  letter  of  January  22,  received.  Suspend  execution  of  sen* 
tence  in  all  the  capital  cases  mentioned  in  General  Orders  No.  1 
and  2,  where  it  has  not  already  been  done.  I  recapitulate  the 
whole  list  of  capital  cases  mentioned  in  said  orders  including  those 
cases  in  which  execution  has  been  heretofore,  as  well  as  those  on 
which  it  is  now  suspended. 

Private  John  Wilson,  Company  D,  Seventy-first  Pennsylvania; 
Private  James  Lane,  Company  B,  Seventy-first  New  York;  Pri- 


APPENDIX 

vate  Joseph  W.  Clifton,  Company  F,  Sixth  New  Jersey;  Private 
Ira  Smith,  Company  I,  Eleventh  New  Jersey;  Private  Allen  G. 
Maxson,  Company  D,  First  Michigan;  Private  John  Keatly,  Com 
pany  I,  Second  Delaware;  Private  Daniel  P.  Byrnes,  Company  A, 
Ninety-eighth  Pennsylvania;  Private  Samuel  Tyler,  Company  G, 
Third  New  Jersey;  Private  Kobert  Gill,  Company  D,  Sixth  New 
York  Cavalry. 
Forward  the  records  in  these  cases  for  examination. 

A.  LINCOLN. 
MAJOR  ECKERT: 

Please  send  above  dispatch.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  27,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  FOSTER,  Knoxville,  Tenn.: 

Is  a  supposed  correspondence  between  General  Longstreet  a&a 
yourself  about  the  amnesty  proclamation,  which  is  now  in  the 
newspapers  genuine?  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  28,  1864. 

To  the  COMMANDING  OFFICER  at  Fort  Preble,  Portland,  Me. : 

Suspend  the  execution  of  death  sentence  of  Charles  Caple,  until 
further  orders,  and  forward  record  for  examination. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 

Please  send  above  dispatch.  I  infer  from  the  letter  on  which 
the  reprieve  is  granted  that  Fort  Preble  is  in  Maine,  but  do  not 
certainly  know.  Please  inquire  of  Colonel  Hardee.  As  the  execu 
tion  was  set  for  to-morrow,  it  is  important  that  the  dispatch  should 
go  at  once.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  28,  1864. 

COMMANDING  OFFICER,  Fort  Mifflin : 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  Bernard  Develin,  Com 
pany  E,  Eighty-first  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  until  further  orders, 
and  forward  record  for  examination.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  above  dispatch.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 


4H  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  28,  1864. 

HON.  EDWARD  STANLEY,  San  Francisco,  Gal. : 

Yours  of  yesterday  received.  We  have  rumors  similar  to  the 
dispatch  received  by  you,  but  nothing  very  definite  from  North 
Carolina.  Knowing  Mr.  Stanley  to  be  an  able  man,  and  not  doubt 
ing  that  he  is  a  patriot,  I  should  be  glad  for  him  to  be  with  his 
old  acquaintances  south  of  Virginia,  but  I  am  unable  to  suggest 
anything  definite  upon  the  subject.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  29,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SICKLES,  New  York  : 

Could  you,   without   it  being   inconvenient  or  disagreeable  to 
yourself,  immediately  take  a  trip  to  Arkansas  for  me  ? 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  29,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SEDGWICK,  Army  of  Potomac  : 

Suspend  execution  of  George  Sowers,  Company  E,  Fourth  Ohio 
Volunteers,  and  send  record.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  31, 1864. 

GOVERNOR  BRAMLETTE,  Frankfort,  Ky. : 

General   Boyle's    resignation    is  accepted,   so  that  your  Excel 
lency  can  give  him  the  appointment  proposed.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  1,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  New  York : 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  Frank  W.  Parker,  of 
one  of  the  Maine  regiments,  sentenced  to  be  shot  for  desertion 
on  the  5th  instant,  and  forward  record  for  examination. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT  : 
Please  send  above  dispatch,  JNO.  G.  NICOLA Y, 

Private  Secretary. 


APPENDIX  4I5 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  3,  1864. 

GOVERNOR  YATES,  Springfield,  HI.: 

The  U.  S.  Government  lot  in  Springfield  can  be  used  for  a  sol 
diers'  home,  with  the  understanding  that  the  Government  doea 
not  incur  any  expense  in  the  case.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  6,  1864. 

COMMANDING  OFFICER  at  Sandusky,  Ohio : 

Suspend  the  execution  of  death  sentence  of  George  Samuel 
Goodrich,  Jr.,  One  hundred  and  twenty-second  Kegiment  New 
York  Volunteers,  and  forward  record  for  examination. 

A.  LINCOLN. 
MAJOR  ECKERT: 

Send  above  dispatch.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  8,  1864. 

COMMANDING  OFFICER,  Portland,  Me.,  care  of  Israel  Washburne,  Jr.: 
Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  James  Taylor  until  fur 
ther  orders,  and  forward  record  of  trial  for  examination. 

A.   LINCOLN. 
MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  above  dispatch.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  8,  1864. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  SEDGWICK: 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  James  Taylor  until  fur 
ther  orders  and  forward  record  of  trial  for  examination. 

A.   LINCOLN. 
MAJOR  ECKERT: 

Please  send  above  dispatch.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  10, 1864. 

GOVERNOR  EROUGH,  Columbus,  Ohio : 

Kobert  Johnson,  mentioned  by  you,  is  hereby  fully  pardoned 
for  any  supposed  desertion  up  to  date.  A.  LINCOLN- 


416  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  10, 1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SICKLES,  New  York: 

Please  come  on  at  your  earliest  convenience,  prepared  to  mak« 
the  contemplated  trip  for  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  11,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SEDGWICK,  Army  of  Potomac: 

Unless  there  be  strong  reason  to  the  contrary,  please  send  Gen 
eral  Kilpatrick  to  us  here,  for  two  or  three  days. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  12,  1864. 

MILITARY  COMMANDER,  Boston,  Mass. : 

If  there  is  anywhere  in  your  command  a  man  by  the  name  of 
James  Taylor  under  sentence  of  death  for  desertion,  suspenc.  ex 
ecution  till  further  order.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  12,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  New  York: 

If  there  is  anywhere  in  your  command  a  man  by  the  name  of 
James  Taylor  under  sentence  of  death  for  desertion,  suspend  exe 
cution  till  further  order.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  17,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  STEELE,  Little  Kock,  Ark.: 

The  day  fixed  by  the  convention  for  the  election  is  probably 
the  best,  but  you  on  the  ground,  and  in  consultation  with  gen 
tlemen  there,  are  to  decide.  I  should  have  fixed  no  day  for  an 
election,  presented  no  plan  for  reconstruction,  had  I  known  the 
convention  was  doing  the  same  things.  It  is  probably  best  that 
you  merely  assist  the  convention  on  their  own  plan,  as  to  election 
day  and  all  other  matters.  I  have  already  written  and  telegraphed 
this  half  a  dozen  times.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  18,  1864. 
A.  ROBINSON,  Leroy,  N.  Y.: 

The  law  only  obliges  us  to  keep  accounts  with  States,  or  at  most, 
Congressional  Districts,  and  it  would  overwhelm  us  to  attempt 


APPENDIX  417 

in  counties,  cities  and  towns.  Nevertheless  we  do  what  we  can 
to  oblige  in  particular  cases.  In  this  view  I  send  your  dispatch 
to  the  provost-marshal  general,  asking  him  to  do  the  best  he  can 
for  you.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

February  19,  1864. 

COMMANDER  GEORGE  S.  BLAKE,  Commandant  Naval  Academy,  New 
port,  K.  L: 

I  desire  the  case  of  Midshipman  C.  Lyon  re-examined  and  if  not 
clearly  inconsistent  I  shall  be  much  obliged  to  have  the  recom 
mendation  changed.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  22,  1864. 

His  EXCELLENCY  GOVERNOR  BROUGH,  Columbus,  Ohio : 
As  you  request  Clinton  Fulton  charged  as  a  deserter  is  pardoned. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  22, 1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  STEELE,  Little  Eock,  Ark.: 

Yours  of  yesterday  received.  Your  conference  with  citizens 
approved.  Let  the  election  be  on  the  14th  of  March  as  they  agreed. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  22, 1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  ROSECRANS,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

Colonel  Sanderson  will  be  ordered  to  you  to-day,  a  mere  omis 
sion  that  it  was  not  done  before.  The  other  questions  in  your  dis 
patch  I  am  not  yet  prepared  to  answer.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  25,  1864. 

COMMANDING  OFFICER,  Johnson's  Island: 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  John  Marrs  until  fur 
ther  orders  and  forward  record  for  examination. 

A.  LINCOLN. 
MAJOR  ECKERT  : 

Please  send  the  above  dispatch.  JNO.  G.  NICOLA Y, 

(27)  Private  Secretarj. 


418  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  26,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. : 

I  cannot  remember  at  whose  request  it  was  that  I  gave  the  pass 
to  Mrs.  Bulkly.  Of  course  detain  her,  if  the  evidence  of  her  being 
a  spy  is  strong  against  her.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  26,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Fort  Monroe: 

If  it  has  not  already  been  done,  suspend  execution  of  death  sen 
tence  of  William  K.  Stearns,  Tenth  New  Hampshire  Volunteers, 
until  further  orders  and  forward  record.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  the  above  dispatch.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 
W.  -Jayne. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  February  26,  1864. 

HON.  W.  JAYNE. 

DEAR  SIR:  I  dislike  to  make  changes  in  office  so  long  as  they 
can  be  avoided.  It  multiplies  my  embarrassments  immensely.  I 
dislike  two  appointments  when  one  will  do.  Send  me  the  name 
of  some  man  not  the  present  marshal,  and  I  will  nominate  him  to 
be  Provost  Marshal  for  Dakota.  Yours  truly, 

A.   LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Dr.  William  Jayne,  Springfield,  111.) 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  27,  1864. 

MAJ.  GEN.  GEORGE  H.  THOMAS,  Department  of  Cumberland: 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  F.  W.  Lauferseick,  first 
corporal,  Company  D,  One  hundred  and  sixth  Regiment  Ohio  Vol 
unteers,  until  further  orders,  and  forward  record  for  examination. 

A.  LINCOLN. 
MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  the  above  dispatch.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  29,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  New  York: 

Do  you  advise  that  John  McKee,  now  in  military  confinement 
at  Fort  Lafayette,  be  turned  over  to  the  civil  authorities  ? 

A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  419 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  2,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND,  Knoxville,  Tenn.: 

Allow  Mrs.  Anne  Maria  Rumsey,  with  her  six  daughters  to  go 
to  her  father,  Judge  Breck,  at  Richmond,  Ky.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  2,  1864. 
JUDGE  D.  BRECK,  Richmond,  Ky.: 

I  have  directed  the  officer  at  Knoxville  to  allow  Mrs.  Rumsey 
to  come  to  you.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  2,  1864. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE: 

Suspend  execution  of  the  death  sentence  of  James  Whelan,  One 
hundred  and  sixteenth  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  until  further 
orders  and  forward  record  for  examination.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT  : 
Please  send  the  above  dispatch.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  March  3,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  STEELE,  Little  Rock,  Ark. : 

Yours  including  address  to  people  of  Arkansas  is  received.  I 
approve  the  address  and  thank  you  for  it.  Yours  in  relation  to 
Willard  M.  Randolph  also  received.  Let  him  take  the  oath  of  De 
cember  8,  and  go  to  work  for  the  new  constitution,  and  on  your 
notifying  me  of  it,  I  will  immediately  issue  the  special  pardon  for 
him.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  4,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. : 

Admiral  Dahlgreen  is  here,  and  of  course  is  very  anxious  about 
his  son.  Please  send  me  at  once  all  you  know  or  can  learn  of  his 
fate.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  7,  1864. 
TJ.  S.  MARSHAL,  Louisville,  Ky. : 

Until  further  order  suspend  sale  of  property  and  further  pro 
ceedings  in  cases  of  the  United  States  against  Dr.  John  B.  English, 


420  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

and  S.  S.  English,  et  al.  sureties  for  John  L.  Hill.    Also  same 
against  same  sureties  for  Thomas  A.  Ireland.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  the  above  dispatch.          JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  9,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Fort  Monroe,  Va.: 
What  are  the  facts  about  the  imprisonment  of  Joseph  A.  Bilisoly  ? 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  9,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

New  York  City  votes  9,500  majority  for  allowing  soldiers  to  vote, 
and  the  rest  of  the  State  nearly  all  on  the  same  side.  Tell  the 
soldiers.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  14,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. : 

First  lieutenant  and  adjutant  of  Sixth  Wisconsin  Volunteers, 
Edward  P.  Brooks,  is  a  prisoner  of  war  at  Richmond,  and  if  you 
can  without  difficulty,  effect  a  special  exchange  for  him,  I  shall  be 
obliged.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  March  17,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  ROSECRANS,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  John  F.  Abshier,  citizen, 
until  further  orders.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  the  above  dispatch.  JNO.  G.  NICOLA Y, 

Private  Secretary. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION.. 
WASHINGTON,  March  22,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Fort  Monroe,  Va.: 

Hon.  W.  R.  Morrison  says  he  has  requested  you  by  letter  to 
effect  a  special  exchange  of  Lieut.  Col.  A.  F.  Rogers,  of  Eightieth 
Illinois  Volunteers,  now  in  Libby  Prison,  and  I  shall  be  glad  if  you 
can  effect  it.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX 


421 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  22,  1864. 

GOVERNOR  EVANS,  Denver,  Col.  Ter. : 

Colorado  Enabling  Act  was  signed  yesterday  by  the  President. 

JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  23,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

Please  suspend  execution  of  Alanson  Orton,  under  sentence  for 
desertion,  until  further  order.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  24,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Eort  Monroe,  Ya. : 

Please,  if  you  can,  effect  special  exchanges  for  J.  F.  Robinson, 
first  lieutenant,  Company  E,  Sixty-seventh  Pennsylvania  Volun 
teers,  and  C.  L.  Edmunds,  first  lieutenant,  Company  D,  Sixty- 
seventh  Pennsylvania  Volunteers.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

March  24,  1864. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

Do  not  change  your  purpose  to  send  Private  Orton,  of  Twelfth 
U.  S.  Infantry,  to  the  Dry  Tortugas.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  March  30,  1864. 

HON.  E.  M.  CORWINE,  New  York : 

It  does  not  occur  to  me  that  you  can  present  the  Smith  case  any 
better  than  you  have  done.  Of  this,  however,  you  must  judge  for 
yourself.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  5,  1864. 

His  EXCELLENCY  JOHN  BROUGH,  Columbus,  Ohio: 

The  President  has  ordered  the  pardon  of  the  soldiers  of  the 
Twelfth  Ohio,  in  accordance  with  your  request.  JOHN  HAY. 

(This  letter  does  appear  in  the  Life  by  J.  G.  Nicolay  and  John 
Hay.) 

(Cypher)  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  April  6,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Fortress  Monroe,  Va.: 

The  President  directs  me  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  your  dis- 


422  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

patch  of  this  morning  and  to  say  that  you  will  submit  by  letter 
or  telegram  to  the  Secretary  of  War  the  points  in  relation  to  the 
exchange  of  prisoners  wherein  you  wish  instructions,  and  that  it  is 
not  necessary  for  you  to  visit  Washington  for  the  purpose  indi 
cated.  JOHN  HAY, 

Major  and  Assistant  Adjutant-General. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  9,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  the  Potomac: 

Suspend  execution  of  Private  William  Collins,  Company  B, 
Sixty-ninth  New  York  Volunteers,  Irish  Brigade,  and  class  him 
with  other  suspended  cases.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  April  11,  1864— 6.15  p.  m. 

HON.  W.  H.  SEWARD,  Astor  House,  New  York : 

Nothing  of  importance  since  you  left.  A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  April  12,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. : 

I  am  pressed  to  get  from  Libby,  by  special  exchange,  Jacob  C. 
Hagenbuck,  first  lieutenant,  Company  H,  Sixty-seventh  Pennsyl 
vania  Volunteers.  Please  do  it  if  you  can  without  detriment  or 
embarrassment.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  17,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac : 

Private  William  Collins  of  Company  B,  of  the  Sixty-ninth  New 
York  Volunteers,  has  been  convicted  of  desertion,  and  execution 
suspended  as  in  numerous  other  cases.  Now  Captain  O'Neill, 
commanding  the  regiment,  and  nearly  all  its  other  regimental  and 
company  officers,  petition  for  his  full  pardon  and  restoration  to  his 
company.  Is  there  any  good  objection?  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  18,  1864. 

COL.  PAUL  FRANK,  of  New  York  Fifty-second,  Army  of  Potomac: 
Is  there  or  has  there  been  a  man  in  your  regiment  by  the  name  of 
Cornelius  Garoin !    And  if  so,  answer  me  as  far  as  you  know  where 
he  now  is.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  433 


EXECUTIVE 
WASHINGTON,  April  20,  1804. 

CALVIN  TRUESDALE,  ESQ.,  Postmaster,  Eock  Island,  HI.  : 

Thomas  J.  Pickett,  late  agent  of  the  Quartermaster's  Department 
for  the  island  of  Rock  Island,  has  been  removed  or  suspended  from 
that  position  on  a  charge  of  having  sold  timber  and  stone  from  the 
island  for  his  private  benefit.  Mr.  Pickett  is  an  old  acquaintance 
and  friend  of  mine,  and  I  will  thank  you,  if  you  will,  to  set  a  day 
or  days  and  place  on  and  at  which  to  take  testimony  on  the  point. 
Notify  Mr.  Pickett  and  one  J.  B.  Danforth  (who  as  I  understand 
makes  the  charge)  to  be  present  with  their  witnesses.  Take  the 
testimony  in  writing  offered  by  both  sides,  and  report  it  in  full  to 
me.  Please  do  this  for  me.  Yours  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(From  Herndon's  "  Life  of  Lincoln."  Permission  of  Jesse  Weik.) 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  20,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  MILITARY  COMMAND,  at  Fort  Warren,  Boston  Harbor, 

Mass.: 

If  there  is  a  man  by  the  name  of  Charles  Carpenter,  under  sen 
tence  of  death  for  desertion,  at  Fort  Warren,  suspend  execution 
until  further  order  and  send  the  record  of  his  trial.  If  sentenced 
for  any  other  offence,  telegraph  what  it  is,  and  when  he  is  to  be 
executed.  Answer  at  all  events.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  21,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  MILITARY  COMMAND,  at  Fort  Warren,  Boston  Harbor, 

Mass.  : 

The  order  I  sent  yesterday  in  regard  to  Charles  Carpenter  is 
hereby  withdrawn,  and  you  are  to  act  as  if  it  had  never  existed. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  April  21,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  New  York: 

Yesterday  I  was  induced  to  telegraph  the  officer  in  military  com 
mand  at  Fort  Warren,  Boston  Harbor,  Mass.,  suspending  the 
execution  of  Charles  Carpenter,  to  be  executed  to-morrow  for  de 
sertion.  Just  now  on  reading  your  order  in  the  case,  I  telegraphed 
the  same  officer  withdrawing  the  suspension,  and  leaving  the  case 
entirely  with  you.  The  man's  friends  are  pressing  me,  but  I  refer 
them  to  you,  intending  to  take  no  further  action  myself. 

A.   LINCOLN. 


424  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  April  22,  1864. 

BRIGADIER-GENERAL  BRAYMAN,  Commanding  Cairo: 

What  day  did  General  Corse  part  with  General  Banks? 

A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON.,  D.  C.,  April  22,  1864. 

'A.  G.  HODGES,  ESQ.,  Frankfort,  Ky.: 
Did  you  receive  my  letter  ?  A.   LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  23,  1864. 

HAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. : 

Senator  Ten  Eyck  is  very  anxious  to  have  a  special  exchange 
of  Capt.  Frank  J.  McLean,  of  Ninth  Tennessee  Cavalry  now,  or 
lately  at  Johnson's  Island,  for  Capt.  T.  Ten  Eyck,  Eighteenth 
U.  S.  Infantry,  and  now  at  Richmond.  I  would  like  to  have  it 
done.  Can  it  be?  A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  April  25,  1864. 

JOHN  WILLIAMS,  Springfield,  111.: 

Yours  of  the  15th  is  just  received.  Thanks  for  your  kind  re 
membrance.  I  would  accept  your  offer  at  once,  were  it  not  that 
I  fear  there  might  be  some  impropriety  in  it,  though  I  do  not 
Bee  that  there  would.  I  will  think  of  it  a  while. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  April  25,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac : 

A  Mr.  Corby  brought  you  a  note  from  me  at  the  foot  of  a  peti 
tion  I  believe,  in  the  case  of  Dawson,  to  be  executed  to-day.  The 
record  has  been  examined  here,  and  it  shows  too  strong  a  case 
for  a  pardon  or  commutation,  unless  there  is  something  in  the  poor 
man's  favor  outside  of  the  record,  which  you  on  the  ground  may 
know,  but  I  do  not.  My  note  to  you  only  means  that  if  you  know 
of  any  such  thing  rendering  a  suspension  of  the  execution  proper, 
on  your  own  judgment,  you  are  at  liberty  to  suspend  it.  Otherwise 
I  do  not  interfere.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX 


425 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  26,  1864 

MAJOR-GENERAL  THOMAS,  Chattanooga,  Term.: 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  young  Perry  from  Wis 
consin,  condemned  for  sleeping  on  his  post,  until  further  orders, 
and  forward  record  for  examination.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  27,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac : 

John  J.  Stefke,  Company  I,  First  New  Jersey  Cavalry,  having 
a  substitute,  is  ordered  to  be  discharged.  Please  have  him  sent 
here  to  Washington.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  April  27,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac : 

Your  dispatch  about  Private  Peter  Gilner  received.  Dispose  of 
him  precisely  as  you  would  under  the  recent  order,  if  he  were 
under  sentence  of  death  for  desertion,  and  execution  suspended 
by  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  28,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

If  Private  George  W.  Sloan,  of  the  Seventy-second  Pennsyl 
vania  Volunteers,  is  under  sentence  of  death  for  desertion,  suspend 
execution  till  further  order.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  29,  1864. 
GENERAL  BRAYMAN,  Cairo,  111.: 

I  am  appealed  to  in  behalf  of  O.  Kellogg,  and  J.  W.  Pryor,  both 
in  prison  at  Cairo.  Please  telegraph  me  what  are  the  charges  and 
summary  of  evidence  against  them.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  30,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND,  at  Little  Kock,  Ark.: 

Please  send  me  the  record  of  trial  for  desertion  of  Thadeus  A. 
Kinsloe,  of  Company  D,  Seventh  Missouri  Volunteer  Cavalry. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


426  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  5,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  KOSECRANS,  Commanding,  &c.,  Saint  Louis,  Mo. : 

The  President  directs  me  to  inquire  whether  a  day  has  yet  been 
fixed  for  the  execution  of  citizen  Robert  Louden,  and  if  so  what 
day?  JOHN  HAY, 

Major  and  Assistant  Adjutant-General. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  May  9,  1864. 

MRS.  SARAH  B.  MECONKEY,  West  Chester,  Pa. 

MADAM  :  Our  mutual  friend,  Judge  Lewis  tells  me  you  do  me  the 
honor  to  inquire  for  my  personal  welfare.  I  have  been  very  anx 
ious  for  some  days  in  regard  to  our  armies  in  the  field,  but  am 
considerably  cheered,  just  now,  by  favorable  news  from  them.  I 
am  sure  that  you  will  join  me  in  the  hope  for  their  further  suc 
cess;  while  yourself,  and  other  good  mothers,  wives,  sisters,  and 
daughters,  do  all  you  and  they  can,  to  relieve  and  comfort  the  gal 
lant  soldiers  who  compose  them.  Yours  truly, 

A.   LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  Columbia  University  Library.) 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  May  10,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  WALLACE,  Baltimore: 

Please  tell  me  what  is  the  trouble  with  Dr.  Hawks.  Also  please 
ask  Bishop  Whittington  to  give  me  his  view  of  the  case. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  14,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  MILITARY  COMMAND  at  Fort  Monroe,  Va. : 

If  Thomas  Dorerty,  or  Welsh,  is  to  be  executed  to-day  and  it  is 
not  already  done,  suspend  it  till  further  order.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  17,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Fort  Monroe,  Va. : 

If  there  is  a  man  by  the  name  of  William  H.  H.  Cummings,  of 
Company  H,  Twenty-fourth  Massachusetts  Volunteers,  within 
your  command  under  sentence  of  death  for  desertion,  suspend 
execution  till  further  order.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX 


427 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  18,  1864. 

His  EXCELLENCY  KICHARD  YATES,  Springfield,  111.: 
If  any  such  proclamation  has  appeared,  it  is  a  forgery. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  May  19, 1864. 

HON.  ANDREW  JOHNSON,  Nashville,  Tenn.: 

Yours  of  the  17th  was  received  yesterday.    Will  write  you  on 
the  subject  within  a  day  or  two.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  20,  1864. 

FELIX  SCHMEDDING,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

The  pleasure  of  attending  your  fair  is  not  within  my  power. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  May  21,  1864. 

MR.  STANSBURT,  U.  S.  Sanitary  Commission : 

Principal  Musician  John  A.  Burke,  Fourteenth  U.  S.  Infantry, 
has  permission  to  accompany  Capt.  W.  K.  Smedburg,  Fourteenth 
Infantry  (wounded)  to  New  York.  A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  May  21,  1864. 

CHRISTIANA  A.  SACK,  Baltimore,  Md. : 

I  cannot  postpone  the  execution  of  a  convicted  spy  on  a  mere 
telegraphic  dispatch  signed  with  a  name  I  never  heard  before. 
General  Wallace  may  give  you  a  pass  to  see  him  if  he  chooses. 

A.  LINCOLN 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

May  23,  1864. 
To  the  COMMANDING  OFFICER  at  Fort  Monroe : 

Is  a  man  named  Henry  Sack  to  be  executed  to-morrow  at  noon! 
If  so,  when  was  he  condemned  and  for  what  offense  ? 

A.  LINCOLN. 


428  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  May  24,  1864. 

To  the  COMMANDING  OFFICER  at  Fort  Monroe,  Va. : 

Let  the  execution  of  Henry  Sack  be  suspended.  I  have  com 
muted  his  sentence  to  imprisonment  during  the  war. 

A.  LINCOLN. 
MAJOR  ECKERT: 

Please  send  this  at  once.  Tours, 

JOHN  HAY, 
Major  and  Assistant  Adjutant-General. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  25,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  Potomac: 

Mr.  J.  C.  Swift  wishes  a  pass  from  me  to  follow  your  army  to 
pick  up  rags  and  cast  off  clothing.  I  will  give  it  to  him  if  you 
say  so,  otherwise  not.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  30,  1864. 

COLONEL  BUTTON,  Old  Point  Comfort,  Va.: 

Colonel  Dutton  is  permitted  to  come  from  Fort  Monroe  to  Wash 
ington.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  31,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  HURLBUT,  Belvidere,  111.: 

You  are  hereby  authorized  to  visit  Washington  and  Baltimore, 

A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  June  4,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  New  York: 

Please  inform  me  whether  Charles  H.  Scott,  of  Eighth  IT.  S.  In 
fantry,  is  under  sentence  of  death  in  your  department?  and  if  so 
when  to  be  executed  and  what  are  the  features  of  the  case  ? 

A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  June  6,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Army  of  the  Potomac: 

Private  James  McCarthy,  of  the  One  hundred  and  fortieth  New 
York  Volunteers,  is  here  under  sentence  to  the  Dry  Tortugas  for 


APPENDIX  429 

an  attempt  to  desert.    His  friends  appeal  to  me  and  if  his  colonel 
and  you  consent,  I  will  send  him  to  his  regiment.    Please  answer. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  June  7,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  ROSECRANS,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

When  your  communication  shall  be  ready  send  it  by  express. 
There  will  be  no  danger  of  its  miscarriage.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  13,  18t>4. 
THOMAS  WEBSTER,  Philadelphia: 

Will  try  to  leave  here  Wednesday  afternoon,  say  at  4  p.  m.  re 
main  till  Thursday  afternoon  and  then  return.  This  subject  to 
events.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  June  18,  1864. 
C.  A.  WALBORN,  Post  Master  Philadelphia: 
Please  come  and  see  me  in  the  next  day  or  two. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  June  19,  1864. 

MRS.  A.  LINCOLN,  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  New  York: 

Tad  arrived  safely  and  all  well.  A.   LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  27, 1864. 

COLONEL  BASCOM,  Assistant  Adjutant-General,  Knoxville,  Tenn.: 
Please  suspend  sale  of  the  property  of  Rogers  &  Co.,  until  fur 
ther  order.  A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  June  28,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Port  Monroe,  Va. : 

Is  there  a  man  by  the  name  of  Amos  Tenney  in  your  command, 
under  sentence  for  desertion  ?  and  if  so  suspend  execution  and  send 
me  the  record.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  June  29,  1864. 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT,  City  Point: 

Dr.  Worster  wishes  to  visit  you  with  a  view  of  getting1  your 
permission  to  introduce  into  the  army  "  Harmon's  Sandal  Sock." 
Shall  I  give  him  a  pass  for  that  object  ?  A.  LINCOLN. 


430  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  9, 1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  ROSECRANS,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

When  did  the  Secretary  of  War  telegraph  you  to  release  Dr. 
Barrett  ?  If  it  is  an  old  thing  let  it  stand  till  you  hear  further. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

July  20, 1864. 

J.  L.  WRIGHT,  Indianapolis,  Ind. : 
All  a  mistake.    Mr.  Stanton  has  not  resigned. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  0.,  July  27,  1864. 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT,  City  Point,  Va.: 

Please  have  a  surgeon's  examination  of  Cornelius  Lee  Comygas, 
in  Company  A,  One  hundred  and  eighty-third  Volunteers,  made 
on  the  questions  of  general  health  and  sanity.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,, 
WASHINGTON,  July  28,  1864. 

HON.  J.  W.  FORNEY,  Philadelphia,  Penn.: 

I  wish  yourself  and  M.  McMichael  would  see  me  here  to-morrow, 
or  early  in  the  day  Saturday.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  30, 1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  HUNTER,  Harper's  Ferry,  Va. : 
What  news  this  morning?  A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  July  30,  1864. 
HON.  M.  ODELL,  Brooklyn: 

Please  find  Colonel  Fowler,  of  Fourteenth  Volunteers,  and  have 
him  telegraph,  if  he  will,  a  recommendation  for  Clemens  J.  Myera, 
for  a  clerkship.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  1, 1864. 

GOVERNOR  E.  D.  MORGAN,  Saratoga  Springs,  N.  T. : 
Please  come  here  at  once.    I  wish  to  see  you. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  431 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  August  5,  1864. 

GOVERNOR  PIERPOINT,  Alexandria,  Va.: 

General  Butler  telegraphs  me  that  Judge  Snead  is  at  liberty. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  6, 1864. 

COL.  S.  M.  BOWMAN,  Baltimore,  Md.: 
If  convenient  come  and  see  me.  A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  6, 1864. 

HON.  ANSON  MILLER,  Kockford,  HI.: 

If  you  will  go  and  live  in  New  Mexico  I  will  appoint  you  a 
judge  there.  Answer.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  August  6,  1864. 

HON.  HORACE  GREELEY,  New  York: 

Yours  to  Major  Hay  about  publication  of  our  correspondence 
received.  With  the  suppression  of  a  few  passages  in  your  letters 
in  regard  to  which  I  think  you  and  I  would  not  disagree,  I  should 
be  glad  of  the  publication.  Please  come  over  and  see  me. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

(This  letter  does  appear  in  the  Life  by  John  G.  Nicolay  and 
John  Hay.) 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  August  8,  1864. 

HON.  HORACE  GREELEY,  New  York: 

I  telegraphed  you  Saturday.    Did  you  receive  the  dispatch? 
Please  answer.  A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  8, 1864. 
HON.  I.  N.  ARNOLD,  Chicago: 

I  send  you  by  mail  to-day  the  appointment  of  Colonel  Mulligan, 
to  be  a  brevet  brigadier-general.  A.  LINCOLN. 


ENDOKSEMENT  OF  APPLICATION  FOR  EMPLOYMENT. 

August  15,  1864. 
"I  am  always  for  the  man  who  wishes  to  work;  and  I  shall  be 


432 


LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 


glad  for  this  man  to  get  suitable  employment  at  Cavalry  Depot, 
or  elsewhere.  A.   LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  C.  F.  Gunther,  Chicago,  111.) 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  18,  1864. 

GOVERNOR  ANDREW  JOHNSON,  Nashville,  Tenn. : 

The  officer  whose  duty  it  would  be  to  execute  John  S.  Young, 
upon  a  sentence  of  death  for  murder,  &c.,  is  hereby  ordered  to  sus 
pend  such  execution  until  further  order  from  me. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  August  18,  1864. 

GEORGE  W.  BRIDGES,  Colonel  Tenth  Tennessee  Volunteers,  Nash 
ville,  Tenn.: 

If  Governor  Andrew  Johnson  thinks  execution  of  sentence  in 
case  of  William  R.  Bridges  should  be  further  suspended,  and  will 
request  it,  the  President  will  order  it. 

JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  August  20,  1864. 

COMMANDING  OFFICER  at  Nashville,  Tenn. : 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  Patrick  Jones,  Company 
F,  Twelfth  Tennessee  Cavalry,  umtil  further  orders  and  forward 
record  for  examination.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  20, 1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Bermuda  Hundred,  Va.: 

Please  allow  Judge  Snead  to  go  to  his  family  on  Eastern  Shore, 
or  give  me  some  good  reason  why  not.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
August  21,  1864—3  p.  m. 

COLONEL  CHIPMAN,  Harper's  Ferry,  Va.: 

What  news  now?  ,  A.   LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  433 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  August  24,  1864. 

MRS.  MARY  McCooK  BALDWIN,  Nashville,  Tenn.: 

This  is  an  order  to  the  officer  having  in  charge  to  execute  the 
death  sentence  upon  John  S.  Young,  to  suspend  the  same  until 
further  order.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  August  26,  1864. 

GOVERNOR  JOHNSON,  Nashville,  Tenn.: 

Thanks  to  General  Gillam  for  making  the  news  and  also  to  you 
for  sending  it.  Does  Joe  Heiskell's  "  walking  to  meet  us  "  mean 
any  more  than  that  "  Joe  "  was  scared  and  wanted  to  save  his  skin  ? 

A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  28,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  WALLACE,  Baltimore,  Md. : 

The  punishment  of  the  four  men  under  sentence  of  death  to 
be  executed  to-morrow  at  Baltimore,  is  commuted  in  each  case  to 
confinement  in  the  Penitentiary  at  hard  labor  during  the  war. 
You  will  act  accordingly.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  30,  1864. 

HON.  B.  H.  BREWSTER,  Astor  House,  New  York: 

Your  letter  of  yesterday  received.  Thank  you  for  it.  Please  have 
no  fears.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  5, 1864. 

HON.  HENRY  J.  RAYMOND,  New  York: 

Have  written  about  Indiana  matters.    Attend  to  it  to-morrow. 

E.  B.  WASHBURNE. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  7,  1864. 

GOVERNOR  JOHNSON,  Nashville,  Tenn.: 

This  is  an  order  to  whatever  officer  may  have  the  matter  in 
charge,  that  the  execution  of  Thomas  R.  Bridges  be  respited  to 
Friday,  September  30,  1864.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(28) 


434  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  7,  1864. 

GOVERNOR  JOHNSON,  Nashville,  Tenn.: 

This  is  an  order  to  whatever  officer  may  have  the  matter  in 
charge  that  the  execution  of  Jesse  T.  Broadway  and  Jordon  Mose- 
ley,  is  respited  to  Friday  September  30,  1864.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  8,  1864. 

GOVERNOR  SMITH,  Providence,  K.  I.: 

Yours  of  yesterday  about  Edward  Conley  received.  Don't  re 
member  receiving  anything  else  from  you  on  the  subject.  Please 
telegraph  me  at  once  the  grounds  on  which  you  request  his  pun 
ishment  to  be  commuted.  A.  LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  8,  1864. 

GOVERNOR  PICKERING,  Olympia,  W.  T. : 

Your  patriotic  dispatch  of  yesterday  received  and  will  be  pub 
lished.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  8,  1864. 

GENERAL  SLOUGH,  Alexandria,  Va.: 

Edward  Conley's  execution  is  respited  to  one  week  from  to 
morrow.    Act  accordingly.  A.   LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  September  9,  1864. 

ISAAC  M.  SCHEMERHORN,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.: 

Yours  of  to-day  received.    I  do  not  think  the  letter  you  mention 
has  reached  me.    I  have  no  recollection  of  it.  A.   LINCOLN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  11,  1864. 

MRS.  A.  LINCOLN,  New  York: 

All  well.     What  day  will  you  be  home?    Four  days  ago  sent 
dispatch  to  Manchester.  Vt.,,  for  you.  A.   LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  435 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  13,  1864. 

HON.  J.  G.  ELAINE,  Augusta,  Me.: 

On  behalf  of  the  Union,  thanks  to  Maine.    Thanks  to  you  per 
sonally  for  sending  the  news.  A.   LINCOLN. 

P.  S. — Send  same  to  L.  B.  Smith  and  M.  A.  Blanchard,  Port 
land,  Me.  A.  L. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  13,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  ROSECRANS,  Saint  Louis: 

Postpone  the  execution  of  S.  H.  Anderson  for  two  weeks.    Hear 
what  his  friends  can  say  in  mitigation  and  report  to  me. 

A.   LINCOLN. 
MAJOR  ECKERT: 

Please  send  the  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLA Y, 

Private  Secretary. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  13,  1864. 

MAJOR-VJENERAL  ROSECRANS,  Saint  Louis: 

Postpone  the  execution  of  Joseph  Johnson  for  two  weeks.    Ex 
amine  the  case  and  report.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  the  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLA  Y, 

Private  Secretary. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  15,  1864. 

MAJOR  H.  H.  HEATH,  Baltimore,  Md. : 
You  are  hereby  authorized  to  visit  Washington. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  16,  1864. 

GENERAL  SLOUGH,  Alexandria,  Va.: 

On  the  14th  I  commuted  the  sentence  of  Conley,  but  fearing 
you  may  not  have  received  notice  I  send  this.     Do  not  execute  him. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


436  LIFE  OP  LINCOLN 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  16,  1864. 

HON.  WILLIAM  SPRAGUE,  Providence,  E.  I. : 
I  corn  muted  the  sentence  of  Conley  two  days  ago. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  16,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SIGEL,  Bethlehem,  Pa.: 
You  are  authorized  to  visit  Washington  on  receipt  of  this. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

September  20,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE,  Headquarters  Army  Potomac: 

If  you  have  not  executed  the  sentence  in  the  case  of  Private 
Peter  Gilner,  Company  F,  Sixty-second  Pennsylvania  Volunteers, 
let  it  be  suspended  until  further  orders.  Keport  to  me. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  24,  1864. 

FRANK  W.  BOLLARD,  New  York: 
I  shall  be  happy  to  receive  the  deputation  you  mention. 

A.    LlNCOLNc 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  25,  1864. 

GEORGE  H.  BRAGONIER,  Commanding  at  Cumberland,  Md. : 

Postpone  the  execution  of  Private  Joseph  Provost,  until  Friday 
the  30th  instant.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  25,  1864. 

H.  W.  HOFFMAN,  Baltimore,  Md.: 

Please  come  over  and  see  me  to-morrow,  or  as  soon  as  convenient. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  27,  1864. 

GOVERNOR  JOHNSON,  Nashville,  Tenn.: 

I  am  appealed  to  in  behalf  of  Robert  Bridges,  who  it  is  said 
is  to  be  executed  next  Friday.  Please  satisfy  yourself,  and  give 
me  your  opinion  as  to  what  ought  be  done.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  437 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  28,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Nashville,  Tenn. : 

Execution  of  Jesse  A.  Broadway  is  hereby  respited  to  Friday 
the  14th  day  of  October  next.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  29,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Nashville,  Tenn. : 

Let  the  execution  of  Kobert  T.  Bridges  be  suspended  until  fur 
ther  order  from  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  September  30,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER,  Bermuda  Hundred,  Ya.: 

Is  there  a  man  in  your  department  by  the  name  of  James  Hal- 
lion,  under  sentence,  and  if  so  what  is  the  sentence,  and  for  what? 

A.   LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  1,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Fort  Monroe,  Ya. : 

Is  there  a  man  by  the  name  James  Hallion  (I  think)  under 
sentence?  And  what  is  his  offense?  What  the  sentence,  and 
when  to  be  executed?  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  5,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND,  at  Nashville,  Tenn. : 

Suspend  execution  of  Thomas  K.  Miller  until  further  order  from 
me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  10,  1864—5  p.  m. 

GOVERNOR  CUETIN,  Harrisburg,  Pa.: 

Yours  of  to-day  just  this  moment  received,  and  the  Secretary 
having  left  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  answer  to-day.  I  have  not 
received  your  letter  from  Erie.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  11,  1864. 

GENERAL  S.  CAMERON,  Philadelphia,  Pa.: 
Am  leaving  office  to  go  home.    How  does  it  stand  now? 

A.  LINCOLN. 


438  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE 

October  12,  1864. 

MAJOB-OENERAL  MEADE,  Headquarters  Army  of  the  Potomac: 

The  President  directs  suspension  of  execution  in  case  of  Albert 
G.  Lawrence,  Sixteenth  Massachusetts  Volunteers,  until  his  fur 
ther  order.  JOHN  HAY, 
Major  and  Assistant  Adjutant-General. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  13,  1864. 

HON.  G.  S.  ORTH,  Lafayette,  Ind.: 

I  now  incline  to  defer  the  appointment  of  judge  until  the  meet 
ing  of  Congress.  A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  October  13,  1864. 

COMMANDANT  at  Nashville,  Tenn.: 

The  sentence  of  Jesse  Broadway  has  been  commuted  by  the 
President  to  imprisonment  at  hard  labor  for  three  years. 

JOHN  HAY, 
Major  and  Assistant  Adjutant- General. 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  15,  1864. 

HON.  H.  W.  HOFFMAN,  Baltimore,  Md. : 
Come  over  to-night  and  see  me.  A.   LINCOLN, 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  16,  1864. 

HON.  J.  K.  MOOREHEAD,  Pittsburg,  Pa.: 

I  do  not  remember  about  the  Peter  Gilner  case,  and  must  look 
it  up  before  I  can  answer.  A.   LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  22,  1864. 

WILLIAM  PRICE,  District  Attorney,  Baltimore,  Md. : 

Yours  received.    Will  see  you  any  time  when  you  present  your 
self.  A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  25,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Nashville,  Tenn.: 

Suspend  execution  of  Young  C.  Eolmonson,  until  further  order 
from  here.    Answer  if  you  receive  this-  A.   LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX 


4:9 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION. 
WASHINGTON,  October  25,  1864. 

LIEUTENANT-COLONEL  KOBINSON,  of    Third    Maryland    Battalion, 
near  Petersburg,  Va. : 

Please  inform  me  what  is  the  condition  of,  and  what  is  being 
done  with  Lieut.  Charles  Saumenig,  in  your  command. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,   October   30,   1864. 

HON.  A.  K.  McCLURE,  Harrisburg,  Pa.: 
I  would  like  to  hear  from  you.  A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  31,  1864. 

HON.  THOMAS  T.  DAVIS,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. : 

I  have  ordered  that  Milton  D.  Norton  be  discharged  on  taking 
the  oath.  Please  notify  his  mother.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  November  1,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  New  York: 

Please  suspend  execution  of  Private  P.  Carroll  until  further 
order.  Acknowledge  receipt.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  November  1,  1864. 

HON.  A.  HOBBS,  Malone,  N.  Y.: 

Where  is  Nathan  Wilcox,  of  whom  you  telegraph,  to  be  found? 

A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  November  2,  1864. 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT,  City  Point: 

Suspend  until  further  order  the  execution  of  Nathan  Wilcox  of 
Twenty -second  Massachusetts  Kegiment  Fifth  Corps,  said  to  be 
at  Repair  Depot.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  2,  1864. 

HON.  H.  J".  RAYMOND  and  GENERAL  W.  K.  STRONG,  New  York: 

Telegraphed  General  Dix  last  night  to  suspend  execution  of  P. 
Carroll,  and  have  his  answer  that  the  order  is  received  by  him. 

A.   LINCOLN* 


440  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,   November   3,   1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Lexington,  Ky.: 

Suspend  execution  of  Vance  Mason  until  further  order.  Ac 
knowledge  receipt.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  November  3,  1864. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE: 

Suspend  execution  of  Samuel  J.  Smith,  and  George  Brown, 
alias  George  Rock,  until  further  order  and  send  record. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  November  4,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BURBRIDGE,  Lexington,  Ky.: 

Suspend  execution  of  all  the  deserters  ordered  to  be  executed 
on  Sunday  at  Louisville,  until  further  order,  and  send  me  the 
records  in  the  cases.  Acknowledge  receipt.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  November  5,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Chattanooga,  Tenn. : 

Suspend  execution  of  Robert  W.  Reed  until  further  order  and 
send  record.  Answer.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  November  5,  1864. 

HON.  W.  H.  SEWARD,  Auburn,  N.  Y. : 

No  news  of  consequence  this  morning.  A.   LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  10,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  ROSECRANS,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

Suspend  execution  of  Major  Wolf  until  further  order  and  mean 
while  report  to  me  on  the  case.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  10,  1864. 

H.  W.  HOFFMAN,  Baltimore,  Md. : 

The  Maryland  soldiers  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  cast  a 
total  vote  of  1428,  out  of  which  we  get  1160  majority.  This  is 
directly  from  General  Meade  and  General  Grant.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  44I 

'(Cypher)'  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  15,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  THOMAS,  Nashville,  Term.: 
How  much  force  and  artillery  had  Gillem?          A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  15,  1864. 

W.  H.  PURNELL,  Baltimore,  Md.: 

I  shall  be  happy  to  receive  the  committee  on  Thursday  morning 
(17th)  as  you  propose.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  November  19,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Davenport,  Iowa: 

Let  the  Indian  "Big  Eagle"  be  discharged.  I  ordered  this 
some  time  ago.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  November  24,  1864. 

HON.  HENRY  M.  KICE,  Saint  Paul,  Minn.: 

Have  suspended  execution  of  deserters  named  in  your  dispatch 
until  further  orders  from  here.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  November  24,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Fort  Snelling,  Minn. : 

Suspend  execution  of  Patrick  Kelly,  John  Lennor,  Joel  H. 
Eastwood,  Thomas  J.  Murray,  and  Hoffman  until  further  order 
from  here.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  November  26,  1864. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  ROSECRANS: 

Please  telegraph  me  briefly  on  what  charge  and  evidence  Mrs. 
Anna  B.  Martin  has  been  sent  to  the  Penitentiary  at  Alton. 

A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  5,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  THOMAS,  Nashville,  Tenn. : 

Let  execution  in  the  case  of  Oliver  B.  Wheeler,  sergeant  in  the 
Sixth  Regiment,  Missouri  Volunteers,  under  sentence  of  death 


442  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

for  desertion  at  Chattanooga,  on  the  15th  instant,  be  suspended 
until  further  order,  and  forward  record  for  examination. 

A.  LINCOLN. 
MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  forward  the  above.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  7,  1864. 

GOVERNOR  HALL,  Jefferson  City,  Mo.: 

Complaint  is  made  to  me  of  the  doings  of  a  man  at  Hannibal, 
Mo.,  by  the  name  of  Haywood,  who,  as  I  am  told  has  charge  of 
some  militia  force,  and  is  not  in  the  U.  S.  service.  Please  inquire 
into  the  matter  and  correct  anything  you  may  find  amiss  if  in 
your  power.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December  8,  1864. 

COLONEL  FASLEIGH,  Louisville,  Ky.: 

I  am  appealed  to  in  behalf  of  a  man  by  the  name  of  Frank 
Fairbairns,  said  to  have  been  for  a  long  time,  and  still  in  prison, 
without  any  definite  ground  stated.  How  is  it? 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

December  8,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  EOSECRANS,  Commanding,  Saint  Louis,  Mo. : 

Let  execution  in  case  of  John  Berry  and  James  Berry  be  sus 
pended  until  further  order.  A.   LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 

Will  you  please  hurry  off  the  above?    To-morrow  is  the  day  of 
execution.  JOHN  HAY, 

Assistant  Adjutant-General. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  14,  1864. 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT,  City  Point,  Ya. : 

Please  have  execution  of  John  McNulty,  alias  Joseph  Riley, 
Company  E,  Sixth  New  Hampshire  Volunteers,  suspended  and 
record  sent  to  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  443 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  16,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Chattanooga,  Tenn. : 

It  is  said  that  Harry  Walters,  a  private  in  the  Anderson  cav 
alry,  is  now  and  for  a  long  time  has  been  in  prison  at  Chattanooga. 
Please  report  to  me  what  is  his  condition,  and  for  what  he  is  im 
prisoned.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  20,  1864. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  WALLACE,  Baltimore,  Md.: 

Suspend  execution  of  James  P.  Boilean  until  further  order  from 
here.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  22,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Saint  Joseph,  Mo. : 

Poutpone  the  execution  of  Higswell,  Holland,  and  Way,  for 
twenty  days.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  22,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Indianapolis,  Ind. : 

Postpone  the  execution  of  John  Doyle  Lennan,  alias  Thomas 
DoyLs,  for  ten  days.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  28,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Nashville,  Tenn. : 

Suspend  execution  of  James  K.  Mallory,  for  six  weeks  from  Fri 
day  the  30th  of  this  month,  which  time  I  have  given  his  friends 
to  make  proof,  if  they  can,  upon  certain  points. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  29,  1864. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER: 

Taere  is  a  man  in  Company  I,  Eleventh  Connecticut  Volunteers, 
First  Brigade,  Third  Division,  Twenty-fourth  Army  Corps,  at 
Chain's  Farm,  Va.,  under  the  assumed  name  of  William  Stanley, 


444  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

but  whose  real  name  is  Frank  R.  Judd,  and  who  is  under  arrest, 
and  probably  about  to  be  tried  for  desertion.  He  is  the  son  of  our 
present  minister  to  Prussia,  who  is  a  close  personal  friend  of 
Senator  Trumbull  and  myself.  We  are  not  willing  for  the  boy 
to  be  shot,  but  we  think  it  as  well  that  his  trial  go  regularly  on, 
suspending  execution  until  further  order  from  me  and  reporting 
to  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  29,  1864. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Louisville,  Ky. : 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  George  S.  Owen,  until 
further  orders,  and  forward  record  of  trial  for  examination. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  the  above  telegram.  Yours, 

JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  30,  1864. 

COLONEL  WARNER,  Indianapolis,  Ind.: 

It  is  said  that  you  were  on  the  court  martial  that  tried  John 
Lennon,  and  that  you  are  disposed  to  advise  his  being  pardoned 
find  sent  to  his  regiment.  If  this  be  true,  telegraph  me  to  that 
effect  at  once.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  31,  1864. 

COL.  A.  J.  WARNER,  Indianapolis,  Ind.: 

Suspend  execution  of  John  Lennon  until  further  order  from 
me  and  in  the  meantime  send  me  the  record  of  his  trial. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  4,  1865. 

JOHN  WILLIAMS,  Springfield,  HI.: 

Let   Trumbo's   substitute   be   regularly  mustered   in,   send   me 
the  evidence  that  it  is  done  and  I  will  then  discharge  Trumbo. 

&..   LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX 


445 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  6,  1865. 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT,  City  Point: 

If  there  is  a  man  at  City  Point  by  the  name  of  Waterman 
Thornton  who  is  in  trouble  about  desertion,  please  have  his  case 
briefly  stated  to  me  and  do  not  let  him  be  executed  meantime. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  9f  1865. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Saint  Joseph,  Mo. : 

Postpone  the  execution  of  the  death  sentence  of  Holland,  High- 
smith,  and  Utz,  ten  days  longer  unless  you  receive  orders  from  me 
to  the  contrary.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  the  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  11, 1865. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Nashville,  Tenn. : 

Postpone  the  execution  of  S.  W.  Elliott,  and  C.  E.  Peacher,  until 
the  3rd  day  of  February,  1865.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  12,  1865. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Lexington,  Ky. : 

Suspend  execution  of  sentence  of  death  in  case  of  Solomon 
Spiegel,  Ninth  Michigan  Cavalry,  until  further  orders  and  for 
ward  record  of  trial  for  examination.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  the  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  12,  1865. 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT,  City  Point,  Va.: 

If  Henry  Stork  of  Fifth  Pennsylvania  Cavalry,  has  been  con- 
Ticted  of  desertion,  and  is  not  yet  executed,  please  stay  till  further 
order  and  send  record.  A.  LINCOLN. 


446  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  19,  1865. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  DODGE,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

If  Mrs.  Beattie,  alias  Mrs.  Wolff,  shall  be  sentenced  to  <3eath, 
notify  me,  and  postpone  execution  till  further  order. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  19,  1865. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  ORD: 

You  have  a  man  in  arrest  for  desertion  passing  by  the  name  of 
Stanley.  William  Stanley,  I  think,  but  whose  real  name  is  dif 
ferent.  He  is  the  son  of  so  close  a  friend  of  mine  that  I  must 
not  let  him  be  executed.  Please  let  me  know  what  is  his  present 
and  prospective  condition.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  20,  1865. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  New  York: 
Let  W.  N.  Bilbo  be  discharged  on  his  parole.         A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  20,  1865. 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT,  City  Point,  Va.: 

If  Thomas  Samplogh,  of  the  First  Delaware  Regiment  has  been 
sentenced  to  death,  and  is  not  yet  executed,  suspend  and  report  the 
case  to  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  21,  1865. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  WALLACE,  Baltimore,  Md.: 

Two  weeks  or  ten  days  ago,  as  I  remember,  I  gave  direction  for 
Levin  L.  Waters  to  be  either  tried  at  once  or  discharged.  If  he 
has  not  been  tried,  nor  a  trial  of  him  progressing  in  good  faith 
discharge  him  at  once.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  22,  1865. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  WALLACE,  Baltimore,  Md. : 

The  case  of  Waters  being  as  you  state  it,  in  your  dispatch  of  to 
day,  of  course  the  trial  will  proceed.  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  447 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  B.  C.,  January  23,  1865. 

W.  O.  BARTLETT,  ESQ.,  New  York: 
Please  come  and  see  me  at  once.  A.   LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  24,  1865. 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT,  City  Point: 

If  Newell  W.  Root,  of  First  Connecticut  Heavy  Artillery,  is 
under  sentence  of  death  please  telegraph  me  briefly  the  circum 
stances.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  25,  1865. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Nashville,  Tenn. : 

Do  not  allow Elliott,  under  sentence  of  death  to  be  exe 
cuted  without  further  order  from  me,  and  if  an  exchange  of  him 
for  Capt.  S.  T.  Harris,  now  a  prisoner,  supposed  to  be  at  Columbia, 
S.  C.,  can  be  effected,  let  it  be  done.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  25,  1865. 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT,  City  Point,  Va.: 

Having  received  the  report  in  the  case  of  Newell  W.  Root,  I  do 
not  interfere  further  in  the  case.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  26,  1865. 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT  : 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  William  H.  Jeffs,  Com 
pany  B,  Fifty-sixth  Massachusetts  Volunteers,  until  further  or-» 
ders,  and  forward  record  of  trial  for  examination. 

A.   LINCOLN. 
MAJOR  ECKERT: 

Please  send  the  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  26,  1865. 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT  : 

Suspend  execution  of  Hamel  Shaffer  ordered  to  be  shot  at  City 
Point  to-morrow,  until  further  orders  and  forward  record  of  trial 
for  examination.  A.  LINCOLN. 


448  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 

Please  send  the  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  27,  1865. 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT: 

Stay  execution  in  case  of  Barney  Koorke,  Fifteenth  New  York 
Engineers,  until  record  can  be  examined  here.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Send  above  dispatch  and  oblige.  JOHN  HAY, 

Assistant  Adjutant-General. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  27,  1865. 

To  the  COMMANDING  OFFICER  at  Nashville,  Tenn. : 

Let  execution  in  case  of  Cornelius  E.  Peacher,  be  stayed  until 
further  orders.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  28,  1865. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  ORD,  Army  of  the  James: 

Give  me  a  brief  report  in  case  of  Charles  Love,  Seventh  New 
Hampshire,  tried  for  desertion,  and  transmit  record  for  my  ex 
amination.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  30,  1865. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  ORD,  Headquarters  Army  of  the  James : 

By  direction  of  the  President  you  are  instructed  to  inform  the 
three  gentlemen,  Messrs.  Stephens,  Hunter,  and  Campbell,  that 
a  messenger  will  be  dispatched  to  them  at  or  near  where  they 
now  are,  without  unnecessary  delay.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

Secretary  of  War. 

(This  letter  does  appear  in  the  Life  by  J.  G.  Nicolay  and  John 
Hay.) 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  31,  1865. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  WALLACE,  Baltimore,  Md.: 

Suspend  sending  off  of  Charles  E.  Waters,  until  further  order 
and  send  record  if  it  has  not  already  been  sen,* 

A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX  449 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  31,  1865. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  WALLACE,  Baltimore,  Md.: 

Your  second  dispatch  in  regard  to  Waters  is  received.  The 
President's  dispatch  of  this  morning  did  not  refer  to  Levin  T« 
Waters,  but  to  a  man  who  it  was  represented  had  been  convicted 
by  a  military  commission  of  unlawful  trade  with  the  rebels  or 
something  of  that  kind,  and  was  to  be  sent  this  morning  to  the 
'Albany  Penitentiary.  His  name  was  given  as  Charles  E.  Waters. 
If  such  prisoner  is  on  his  way  North  let  him  be  brought  back  and 
held  aa  directed  in  the  President's  dispatch. 

JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  31,  1865. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Philadelphia,  Pa. : 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  John  Murphy,  ordered 
for  February  10,  1865,  at  Fort  Mifflin,  until  further  orders  and  for 
ward  record  of  trial  for  examination.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  forward  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  1,  1865. 

GENERAL  SHEPLEY,  Norfolk,  Va.: 

It  is  said  that  Henry  W.  Young,  private  in  Sixty-third  New 
York  Volunteers,  Company  E,  is  in  arrest  for  desertion.  If  he 
shall  be  tried  and  sentenced  to  any  punishment,  do  not  let  sentence 
be  executed  until  further  order  from  me,  meantime  send  me 
record  of  the  trial.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  2,  1865. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Frankfort,  Ey. : 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  W.  E.  Walker  until 
further  orders,  and  forward  record  of  trial  for  examination. 

A.  LINCOLN; 
MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  the  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 
(29) 


450  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE 
WASHINGTON,  February  4,  1865. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Nashville,  Tenn. : 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  James  K.  Mallory,  until 
further  orders.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Please  send  the  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  6,  1865. 

FREDERICK  HASSAUREK,  Cincinnati,  Ohio: 

A  dispatch  from  General  Grant  says  "  Lieutenant  Markbeit  has 
been  released  from  prison  and  is  now  on  his  way  North." 

A.  LINCOLN. 

To   LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT,   Headquarters   Armies   of   the 
United  States : 

Suspend  execution  in  case  of  Simon  J.  Schaffer,  Fifteenth  New 
York  Engineers,  until  further  orders,  and  send  me  the  record. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

Send  above.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  February  7,  1865. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Davenport,  Iowa: 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  John  Davis,  alias  John 
Lewis,  until  further  orders  and  forward  record  of  trial  for  exam 
ination.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  the  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  8,  1865. 

MARK  HOYT,  ESQ.,  28  Spruce  Street,  New  York: 

The  President  has  received  your  dispatch  asking  an  interview 
He  cannot  appoint  any  specific  day  or  hour,  but  your  delegation 
may  come  at  their  own  convenience  and  he  will  see  them  as  soon 
as  he  possibly  can  after  their  arrival.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 


APPENDIX  451 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  9,  1865. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  CADWALLADER,  Philadelphia: 

Please  suspend  execution  in  case  of  Thomas  Adams,  One  hun 
dred  and  eighty-sixth  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  and  send  record 
to  me.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  above  telegram.  JNO.  Q.  NICOLAY. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  9,  1865. 

COMMANDING-GENERAL  Sixth  Army  Corps : 

Suspend  the  execution  of  the  sentence  of  Private  James  L. 
Hycks,  Sixty-seventh  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  until  further 
orders.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 

The  President  requests  that  you  will  send  the  above.  The  man 
was  to  have  been  executed  on  10th  instant. 

ED.  D.  NEILL, 
Secretary  to  President,  United  States,  &c. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  9,  1865. 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT: 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  Hugh  F.  Riley,  Eleventh 
Massachusetts  Volunteers,  now  in  front  of  Petersburg,  until  fur 
ther  orders,  and  forward  record  for  examination. 

A.  LINCOLN. 
MAJOR  ECKERT: 

Please  send  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  9,  1865. 

His  EXCELLENCY  JOHN  A.  ANDREW,  Governor  of  Massachusetts, 

Boston,  Mass. : 

The  President  has  to-day  sent  a  dispatch  ordering  that  the  exe 
cution  of  Hugh  F.  Riley,  Eleventh  Massachusetts  Volunteers,  be 
suspended  until  further  orders  and  the  record  forwarded  for  ex 
amination.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 


452  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  11,  1865. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  ORD,  Army  of  James: 

Suspend  execution  of  sentence  in  case  of  Maj.  T.  C.  Jameson 
and  send  me  the  record.  A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  11,  1865. 

COL.  P.  B.  HAWKINS,  Frankfort,  Ky. : 

General  Burbridge  may  discharge  W.  E.  Waller,  if  he  thinks  fit. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  12,  1865. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  HOOKER,  Cincinnati,  Ohio: 

Is  it  Lieut.  Samuel  B.  Davis  whose  death  sentence  is  com 
muted?  If  not  done,  let  it  be  done.  Is  there  not  an  associate  of 
his  also  in  trouble  ?  Please  answer.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  13,  1865. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  SHERIDAN: 

Suspend  execution  of  sentence  in  case  of  James  Lynch,  alia.4 
Hennessy,  until  further  orders  and  send  record  to  me.  Please  ac 
knowledge  receipt  of  this.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 

Please  send  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  14,  1865. 

To  the  Commanding  Officer,  Davenport,  Iowa: 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  John  C.  Brown,  alias 
William  A.  Craven,  and  of  John  Ble,  alias  Cohoe,  until  further 
orders  and  send  records  for  examination.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  the  above  dispatch.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 


APPENDIX  453 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  14,  1865. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  SHERIDAN: 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  James  Brown,  fixed  for 
the  17th  instant  at  Harper's  Ferry,  until  further  orders,  and  for 
ward  record  for  examination.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 

Please  send  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 

WASHINGTON,  February  15,  1865. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  SHERIDAN: 

Suspend  execution  in  case  of  Luther  T.  Palmer,  Fifth  New 
York  Artillery,  for  fourteen  days  and  send  record  to  me  for  ex 
amination.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  15,  1865. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  SHERIDAN  : 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  William  Eandall,  at 
Harper's  Ferry,  of  Fifth  New  York  Heavy  Artillery,  until  further 
orders  and  forward  record  of  trial  for  examination. 

A.   LINCOLN. 
MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  the  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  16,  1865. 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT  : 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  George  W-  Brown,  Com 
pany  A,  Fifteenth  New  York  Engineers,  now  at  City  Point,  until 
further  orders  and  forward  record  for  examination. 

A.   LINCOLN. 
MAJOR  ECKERT: 

Please  send  the  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  16,  1865. 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT  : 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  Charles  Love,  Seventh 
New  Hampshire  Volunteers,  at  City  Point,  until  further  orders  and 
forward  record  for  examination.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  the  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 


454  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  17,  1865 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Davenport,  Iowa :     /- 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  William  A.  Craven,  for 
four  weeks  and  forward  record  for  examination.  A.  LINCOLN, 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 
Please  send  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  17,  1865. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Harper's  Ferry : 

Chaplain  Fitzgibbon  yesterday  sent  me  a  dispatch  invoking 
clemency  for  Jackson,  Stewart  and  Randall,  who  are  to  be  shot 
to-day.  The  dispatch  is  so  vague  that  there  is  no  means  here  of 
ascertaining  whether  or  not  the  execution  of  sentence  of  one  or 
more  of  them  may  not  already  have  been  ordered.  If  not  suspend 
execution  of  sentence  in  their  cases  until  further  orders  and  for 
ward  records  of  trials  for  examination.  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJOR  ECKERT: 

Please  send  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NIOOLAY. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  20,  1865. 

OFFICER  IN  COMMAND  at  Davenport,  Iowa : 

Suspend  execution  of  Henry  Cole,  alias  Henry  Coho,  until  fur 
ther  order  and  send  record.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  22,  1865. 

OFFICER  EN  COMMAND  at  Lexington,  Ky. : 
Send  forthwith  record  of  the  trial  of  C.  K.  Johnson. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  23,  1865. 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT  : 

Suspend  execution  of  death  sentence  of  George  A.  Maynard, 
Company  A,  Forty-sixth  New  York  Veteran  Volunteers,  until 
further  orders  and  forward  record  for  examination. 

A.  LINCOLN. 
MAJOR  ECKERT: 

Please  send  the  above  telegram.  JNO.  G.  NICOLAY, 

Private  Secretary. 


APPENDIX  455 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  24?  1865. 

MAJOB-OENERAL  POPE,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

Please  inquire  and  report  to  me  whether  there  is  any  propriety 
of  longer  keeping  in  Gratiott  Street  Prison  a  man  said  to  be 
there  by  the  name  of  Kiley  Whiting.  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  February  28,  1865. 

COMMANDING  OFFICER,  Harper's  Ferry,  Va. : 

Let  the  sentence  in  case  of  Luther  T.  Palmer  be  suspended  till 
further  order.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  March  6, 1865 

HON.  DAVID  TOD,  Cleveland,  Ohio: 

I  have  yours  about  Grannis,  and  am  compelled  to  say  there  is  a 
complication  in  the  way.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  March  9,  1865. 

W.  O.  BARTLETT,  Philadelphia  (probably  at  Continental) : 
It  will  soon  be  too  late  if  you  are  not  here.  A.  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  March  13,  1865. 
HON.  HENRY  T.  BLOW,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

A  Miss  E.  Snodgrass,  who  was  banished  from  Saint  Louis  in 
May,  1863,  wishes  to  take  the  oath  and  return  home.  What  say 
y^?  A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  16,  1865. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  ORD: 

Suspend  execution  of  Lieut.  Henry  A.  Meek,  of  First  U.  S.  Col 
ored  Cavalry,  until  further  order  from  here.  Answer. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  March  17,  1865. 

COL.  R.  M.  HOUGH  AND  OTHERS,  Chicago,  HI. : 

Yours  received.  The  best  I  can  do  with  it  is  to  refer  it  to  the 
War  Department.  The  Bock  Island  case  referred  to,  was  my 


456  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

individual  enterprise,  and  it  caused  so  much  difficulty  m  so  many 
ways  that  I  promised  to  never  undertake  another. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  [March]  20,  1865. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  ORD,  Army  of  the  James: 

Is  it  true  that  George  W.  Lane  is  detained  at  Norfolk  without 
any  charge  against  him?  And  if  so  why  is  it  done? 

A.  LINCOLN. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  March  23,  1865. 

GENERAL  DODGE,  Commanding,  &c.,  Saint  Louis,  Mo.: 

Allow  Mrs.  K.  S.  Ewell  the  benefit  of  my  amnesty  proclamation 
on  her  taking  the  oath.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC, 

March  25,  1865.  (Received  5  p.  m.) 

HON.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War: 

I  am  here  within  five  miles  of  the  scene  of  this  morning's  action. 
I  have  nothing  to  add  to  what  General  Meade  reports  except  that 
I  have  seen  the  prisoners  myself  and  they  look  like  there  might 
be  the  number  he  states — 1,600.  A.  LINCOLN. 

CITY  POINT,  VA.,  March  26,  1865.  (Received  11.30  a.  m.) 
HON.  SECRETARY  OF  WAR  : 

I  approve  your  Fort  Sumter  programme.  Grant  don't  seem  to 
know  Yeatman  very  well,  but  thinks  very  well  of  him  so  far  as 
he  knows.  Thinks  it  probable  that  Y.  is  here  now,  for  the  place. 
I  told  you  this  yesterday  as  well  as  that  you  should  do  as  you 
think  best  about  Mr.  Whiting's  resignation,  but  1  suppose  you 
did  not  receive  the  dispatch.  I  am  on  the  boat  and  have  no  later 
war  news  than  went  to  you  last  night.  A.  LINCOLN. 

CITY  POINT,  VA.,  March  30,  1865—7.30  p.  m. 

(Received  8.30  p.  m.) 
HON.  SECRETARY  OF  WAR: 

I  begin  to  feel  that  I  ought  to  be  at  home  and  yet  I  dislike 
to  leave  without  seeing  nearer  to  the  end  of  General  Grant's  pres 
ent  movement.  He  has  now  been  out  since  yesterday  morning 
and  although  he  has  not  been  divested  from  his  programme  no 
considerable  effort  has  yet  been  produced  so  far  as  we  know  here. 
Last  night  at  10.15  p.  m.  when  it  was  dark  as  a  rainy  night  with- 


APPENDIX  457 

out  a  moon  could  be,  a  furious  cannonade  soon  joined  in  by  a 
heavy  musketry  fire  opened  near  Petersburg  and  lasted  about  two 
hours.  The  sound  was  very  distinct  here  as  also  were  the  flashes 
of  the  guns  up  the  clouds.  It  seemed  to  me  a  great  battle,  but 
the  older  hands  here  scarcely  noticed  it  and  sure  enough  this  morn 
ing  it  was  found  that  very  little  had  been  done.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  CITY  POINT,  VA.,  April  1,  1865—5.30  p.  m. 

(Keceived  8.30  p.  m.) 

HON.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War: 

Dispatch  just  received  showing  that  Sheridan,  aided  by  War 
ren  had  at  2  p.  m.  pushed  the  enemy  back  so  as  to  retake  the  five 
forks  and  bring  his  own  headquarters  up  to  I.  Boisseans.  The 
five  forks  were  barricaded  by  the  enemy  and  carried  by  Diven's 
division  of  cavalry.  This  part  of  the  enemy  seems  to  now  be 
trying  to  work  along  the  White  Oak  road  to  join  the  main  force 
in  front  of  Grant,  while  Sheridan  and  Warren  are  pressing  them 
as  closely  as  possible.  A.  LINCOLN. 

CITY  POINT,  VA.,  April  2,  1865. 
MRS.  LINCOLN: 

At  4.30  p.  m.  to-day  General  Grant  telegraphs  that  he  has  Peters 
burg  completely  enveloped  from  river  below  to  river  above,  and 
has  captured  since  he  started  last  Wednesday,  about  12,000  pris 
oners  and  50  guns.  He  suggests  that  I  shall  go  out  and  see  him  in 
the  morning,  which  I  think  I  will  do.  Tad  and  I  are  both  well, 
and  will  be  glad  to  see  you  and  your  party  here  at  the  time  you 
name.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  CITY  POINT,  VA.,  April  3,  1865—5  p.  m. 

(Received  7  p.  m.) 
HON.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War: 

Yours  received.  Thanks  for  your  caution,  but  I  have  already 
been  to  Petersburg,  stayed  with  General  Grant  an  hour  and  a  half 
and  returned  here.  It  is  certain  now  that  Richmond  is  in  our 
hands,  and  I  think  I  will  go  there  to-morrow.  I  will  take  care  of 
myself.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Cypher)  CITY  POINT,  VA.,  April  4,  1865—8  a.  m. 

(Received  8.45  a.  m.) 

HON.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War: 

General  Weitzel  telegraphs  from  Richmond  that  of  railroad 
etock  he  found  there,  28  locomotives,  44  passenger  and  baggage 
cars,  and  106  freight  cars.  At  3.30  this  evening  General  Grant  from 
Southerland  Station,  10  miles  from  Petersburg  toward  Burkes* 
ville  telegraphs  as  follows : 


458  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN 

"  General  Sheridan  picked  up  1,200  prisoners  to-day  and  from 
300  to  500  more  have  been  gathered  by  other  troops.  The  majority 
of  the  arms  that  were  left  in  the  hands  of  the  remnant  of  Lee's 
army  are  now  scattered  between  Richmond  and  where  his  troops 
are.  The  country  is  also  full  of  stragglers,  the  line  of  retreat 
marked  with  artillery,  ammunition  burned  or  charred  wagons,  cais 
sons,  ambulances,  &c."  A.  LINCOLN. 

CITY  POINT,  VA.,  April  5, 1865.     (Received  11 :  55  p.  m.) 
HON.  SECRETARY  OF  STATE: 

Yours  of  to-day  received.  I  think  there  is  no  probability  of 
my  remaining  here  more  than  two  days  longer.  If  that  is  too  long 
come  down.  I  passed  last  night  at  Richmond  and  have  just  re 
turned.  A.  LINCOLN. 

CITY  POINT,  VA.,  April  7,  1865—8.35  a.  m. 

(Received  10.30  a.  m.) 
HON.  SECRETARY  OF  WAR: 

At  11.15  p.  m.  yesterday  at  Burkesville  Station,  General  Grant 
Bends  me  the  following  from  General  Sheridan: 

"April  6—11.15  p.  m. 
"  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT  : 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  report  that  the  enemy  made  a  stand  at  the 
intersection  of  the  Burks  Station  road  with  the  road  upon  which 
they  were  retreating.  I  attacked  them  with  two  divisions  of  the 
Sixth  Army  Corps  and  routed  them  handsomely,  making  a  connec 
tion  with  the  cavalry  I  am  still  pressing  on  with  both  cavalry  and 
infantry.  Up  to  the  present  time  we  have  captured  Generals  Ewell, 
Kershaw,  Button,  Corse,  De  Bare,  and  Custus  Lee,  several  thou 
sand  prisoners,  14  pieces  of  artillery  with  caissons  and  a  large 
number  of  wagons.  If  the  thing  is  pressed  I  think  Lee  will  sur 
render.  "  P.  H.  SHERIDAN, 

"  Major-General,  Commanding." 
A.  LINCOLN. 

CITY  POINT,  April  7,  1865—9  a.  m. 

(Received  10:30  a.  m.) 
HON.  SECRETARY  OF  WAR: 

The  following  further  just  received: 

"BURKESVILLE,  VA. 
"A.  LINCOLN: 

"  The  following  telegrams  respectfully  forwarded  for  your  in* 
formation:  "U.  S.  GRANT, 

"  Lieutenant-General." 


APPENDIX  459 

"  SECOND  ARMY  CORPS,  April  6—7.30  p.  m. 
.  A.  S.  WEBB: 

"  Our  last  fight  just  before  dark  at  Sailor's  Creek  gave  us  2 
guns,  3  flags,  considerable  numbers  of  prisoners,  200  wagons,  70 
ambulances  with  mules  and  horses  to  about  one-half  the  wagons 
and  ambulances.  There  are  between  30  and  50  wagons  in  addition 
abandoned  and  destroyed  along  the  road,  some  battery  wagons, 
forages,  and  limbers.  I  have  already  reported  to  you  the  capture 
of  1  gun,  2  flags  and  some  prisoners,  and  the  fact  that  the  road  for 
over  2  miles  is  strewed  with  tents,  baggage,  cooking  utensils,  some 
ammunition,  some  material  of  all  kinds,  the  wagons  across  the 
approach  to  the  bridges  it  will  take  some  time  to  clear  it.  The 
enemy  is  in  position  on  the  heights  beyond  with  artillery.  The 
bridge  partially  destroyed  and  the  approaches  on  other  side  are 
of  soft  bottom  land.  We  cannot  advance  to-morrow  in  the  same 
manner  we  have  to-day.  As  soon  as  I  get  my  troops  up  a  little, 
we  are  considerably  mixed,  I  might  push  a  column  down  the  road 
and  deploy  it  but  it  is  evident  that  I  cannot  follow  rapidly  during 
the  night.  "A.  A.  HUMPHREYS, 

"  Major-General." 
A.  LINCOLN. 

HEAD  QUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
CITY  POINT,  April  7,  11  a.  m.,  1865. 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT  : 

Gen.  Sheridan  says  "  If  the  thing  is  pressed  I  think  that  Lee  will 
surrender."  Let  the  thing  be  pressed.  A.  LINCOLN. 

(Original  owned  by  C.  F.  Gunther  of  Chicago,  HI.) 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  April  11,  1865. 

BRIO.  GEN.  G.  H.  GORDON,  Norfolk,  Va.: 

Send  to  me  at  once  a  full  statement  as  to  the  cause  or  causes 
for  which,  and  by  authority  of  what  tribunal,  George  W.  Lane, 
Charles  Whitlock,  Ezra  Baker,  J.  M.  Kenshaw,  and  others  are 
restrained  of  their  liberty.  Do  this  promptly  and  fully. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


ESTDEX 


INDEX 


A  Ashmun,  George,  i,  349,  359 ;  ii,  43. 

236. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  Ode  for  the  Burial  Atkinson,  Gen.,  i,  75,  81-84. 

of,  ii,  257.  Atwood,  of  Philadelphia,  i,  373. 
"Abraham,  Father,"  ii,  169. 
Adams,  Mr.,  ii,  25. 

Adams,  Gen.  James,  i,  155-157.  B 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  i,  207. 

Address  to  Border  States  representa-  Bad  Ax,  battle  of,  i,  90. 

tives,  ii,  in.  Bailhache,  Wm.  H.,  Major,  i,  403. 

Address,  first  inaugural,  ii,  6-12.  Baker,  Edward  D.,  Col.,  i,  133,  158, 

—  opinions  of  the  press,  ii,  12,  13,  166. 

—  second  inaugural,  ii,  221,  222.  —  nominated  for  Congress  against  Lin- 
Administration,  embarrassment  of,  ii,       coin,  i,  194,  195,  202,  203,  212,  398; 

44.  ii,  70,  7i. 

—  military  policy,  ii,  53,  70,  93,  95,  Baker,  Senator,  of  Oregon,  ii,  5. 
101,  194.  Ball's  Bluff,  battle  of,  ii,  70,  71. 

Akers,  Peter,  Rev.  Dr.,  sermon  of,  i,  Baltimore,  plot  in,  i,  419. 

237.  Bancroft,  Frederick,  i   392. 

Allen,  Dr.  John,  i,  9.  Banks,  Gen.,  i,  347  ;  ii,  58,  71. 

Anderson,  Robert,  Gen.,  i,  80,  86,  90,  Banks,  of  Massachusetts,  i,  347,  403. 

387.  Baptist  Licking  Locust  Ass.,  i,  35. 

—  in  command  of  Fort   Sumter,   ii,  Bartlett,  D.  W.,  i,  370. 

14,  15.  Bateman,  Newton,  Dr.,  i,  361. 

— -  heroic  defence,  ii,  33,  230.  Bates,  Edward,  i,  347,  398,  402,  424. 

Anti-slavery  agitation,  i,  35.  Beatty,  George,  i,  321. 

Arms,  i,  388,  ii,  44.  Beckwith,  H.  W.,  Judge,  i,  251. 

Armstrong,  Jack,  i,  63,  64,  107,  270.  —  "Personal    Recollections    of    Lin- 
Armstrong  murder,  i,  270-273.  coin,"  i,  252,  308. 

Armstrong,  Hannah,  i,  107,  270,  271,  Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  Rev.,  i,  304, 

273-  322;  ii,  230. 

Armstrong,  William.     (See  Armstrong  Bell,  Mr.,  i,  380,  386. 

murder  case.)  Bennett,  John,  i,  137,  193,  204. 

Army  of  the  Cumberland,  ii,  145.  Benton,  Thomas  H.,  i,  207. 

Army  of  Northeastern  Virginia,  ii,  55.  Berry,  Lucy  (Shipley),  Mrs.,  aunt  of 
Army,  increase  of,  ii,  43.  Nancy  Hanks,  i,  8. 

Army  of  the  Potomac,  ii,  69.  Berry,  Mr.,  of  Boston,  i,  373. 

—  inaction  of,    ii,    71,  86,   105,   127,  Berry  and  Lincoln,  store  of,  i,  9,  92. 
133.  139,  140,  145,  150,  160,  162.  —  tavern  license,  i,  94-96,  104,  108. 

Army  of  Virginia,  ii,  129.  Berry,  Richard,  i,  8,  10. 

Arnold,  Isaac,  ii,  46,  in,  231.  Berry,  Wm.  F.,  i,  92. 

Arsenal,  supplies  of,  ii,  44.  Birney,  James  G.,  i,  200. 

Ashburn  resolution,  i,  214.  Bissell,  Wm.  H.,  Gen.,  i,  291. 


464 


INDEX 


Black  Hawk.    (See  Black  Hawk  War.) 
Black  Hawk  War,  i,  73-87. 

—  prominent  Americans  engaged  in, 
i,  90,  114,  211. 

Blaine,  James  G.,  Secretary,  ii,  168. 
Blair,  Francis  P.,  i,  292,  349,  359;  ii, 
88. 

—  acts  as    peacemaker,    ii,    209-210, 

359- 

Blair,  Frank  P.,  of  Chicago,  ii,  88. 

Blair,  Montgomery,  Postmaster-Gen 
eral,  i,  424,  425  ;  ii,  20,  61,  64,  65, 
97- 

Blanchard,  John,  i,  208. 

Blodgett,  Judge,  i,  276,  277. 

Blondin,  story  of,  ii,  92. 

Boal,  Robert,  Dr.,  i,  203. 

Bond,  Ben.,  i,  166. 

Boone,  Nathan,  Col.,  i,  90. 

Booth,  Junius  Brutus,  ii,  248. 

Booth,  John  Wilkes,  ii,  199. 

—  assassinates  Lincoln,  238-240. 
Boutwell,  George  S.,  Gov.,  i,  349,  359, 

360. 

Bowles,  Samuel,  i,  349,  359,  370. 
Bragg,  Braxton,  Gen.,  ii,  182,  183. 
Brayman,   Mason,  Gen.,  i,   255,  259, 

327. 

Breckenridge,  Gov.,  i,  380,  386. 
Breese,  Sidney,  Hon.,  i,  90. 
Bright,  John,  ii,  46. 
Broadwell,  Judge,  i,  177. 
Brokaw,  Abraham,  i,  story  of  Lincoln's 

fees,  267,  268. 

Bromley,  Isaac  H.,  Mr.,  i,  343,  349. 
Brooks,  Noah,  i,  404 ;  ii,  138. 
Brown,  Gratz,  i,  349 ;  ii,  174. 
Brown,  of  Philadelphia,  i,  373. 
Brown,  Mrs.,  Dr.,  i,  176. 

—  describes  Lincoln's  wedding,  i,  190. 
Browning,  O.  H.,  Hon.,  i,  133,  158, 

229 ;  ii,  9,  66. 

Browning,  O.  H.,  Mrs.,  i,  149,  150. 
Brumfield,  Nancy  (Lincoln),  Mrs.,  i, 

6. 

Brumfield,  William,  i,  6. 
Bryant,  John,  i,  86,  144,  146. 
Bryant,  William  Cullen,  i,  80,  86,  90, 

327. 

—  editorial  on  Lincoln,  i,  365,  370, 
380  ;  ii,  178,  257. 

Buchanan,  James  T.,  President,  i,  207, 
300-303,  407,  423. 

—  escorts  Lincoln  to  Capitol,  ii,  2,  4, 
5,  15,  16. 

Buell,  Gen.,  ii,  84,  143,  162. 


Bull  Run,  battle  of,  ii,  55,  56,  59,  60 

79,  150. 

Burner,  Daniel  Green,  i,  108. 
Burner,  Isaac,  i,  no. 
Burnside,  Ambrose,  Gen.,  return  of, 

",  57- 

—  relieves  McClellan,  ii,  133. 

—  movements  of,  ii,  134,  135,  170,  181, 
182. 

Busey,  S.  C.,  Dr.,  personal  reminis 
cences  and  recollections,  i,  208-210. 

Butler,  Gen.,  ii,  58,  249. 

Butler,  William,  i,  91,  148,  180,  186, 
187, 

Butterfield,  Justin,  Gen.,  i,  230,  231  ; 
ii,  138. 


Cabinet,  selecting  the,  i,  399~4O3,  423- 

425  ;  n,  18-22,  53,  70. 
Calhoun,  John,  i,  99,  122,  159,  197. 
Campaign  of    1860,   delegation  of,  i, 

359- 

—  nomination  an  accomplished  fact,  i, 

361. 

—  demonstrations,  i,  364. 

—  opinions  of  the  press,  i,  365. 

—  rail  fence,  i,  366. 

—  Seward's  ratification,  i,  366-368. 

—  speeches,  i,  369. 

—  tracts,  i,  369. 

—  clubs,  i,  370. 

—  songs,  i,  371. 

—  mass  meetings,  i,  372, 
Cameron,  Rev.  John,  i,  107* 
Cameron,  John,  i,  60. 

Cameron,    Simon,    Secretary,   i,    342, 
344,  347,  400,  425  ;  ii,  43. 

—  unfitness,  ii,  76,  77. 

—  relieved,  ii,  78,  142. 
Cameron,  Polly,  Mrs.,  i,  107. 
Campbell,  John  A.,  ii,  210. 
Campbell,  Thomas,  i,  196,  197. 
Canby,  Gen.,  ii,  219. 
Canfield,  Robert  W.,  i,  197. 
Capitol,  the,  ii,  2. 

Carman,  Walter,  i,  53,  54. 
Carpenter,  Mr.,  ii,  116. 
Carr,  Clark  E.,  Col.,  ii,  3. 
Carr,  Wm.  W.,  Lieut.,  i,  198. 
Carter,  David  K.,  i,  359. 
Cartwright,  Peter,  i,  206,  273,  274. 
Casparis,  James,  i,  216. 
Cass,  Gen.,  i,  218,  219. 


INDEX 


465 


Cemetery,  Oakland,  grave  of  Abraham 

Lincoln,  ii,  260. 

Chandler,  A.  B.,  ii,  105,  140,  141,  153. 
Chandler,  Zachariah,  Senator,  i,  292  ; 

ii,  35,  52,  94- 

Chase,  Salmon  P.,  Secretary,  i,  335, 
344,  347,  355,  399,  4OO,  425,  426  ; 
ii,  50,  75,  120. 

—  rival  of  Lincoln,  ii,  189-191. 
Chicago,  mourning  in,  ii,  258. 
Chicago,  rise  of,  i,  114. 

—  audacity  of,  i,  342. 

Civil  War,  ii,  146,  157,  164,  168,  170. 

Chittenden,  E.  L.,  ii,  249. 

Clarke,  Enos,  ii,  175. 

Clary's  Grove  Boys,  i,  63,  89,  92,  272. 

Clay,  Cassius  M.,  i,  349,  369,  370;  ii, 

37- 

Clay,  Henry,  i,  197,  201,  216,  380. 
Clover,  Judge,  ii,  65. 
Coffin,  C.  C.,  ii,  70. 
Colfax,  Schuyler,  i,  425  ;  ii,  233,  236. 
Collamer,  of  Vermont,  i,  347. 
Compositors  receive  news  of  Lincoln's 

death,  ii,  245,  246. 
Conant,  A.  J.,  i,  93,  373. 
Confederacy,  Southern,  ii,  19,  36. 
Conference,  Hampton  Roads,  ii,  212. 
Congress  stands  by  Lincoln,  ii,  59. 
Conkling,  James  C.,  Hon.,  i,  357. 
Conkling,  Roscoe,  ii,  171. 
Cooper  Institute,  Sumner's  speech  at, 

i,  369- 

Cooper  Union  speech,  i,  326-330,  383. 
Convention,  Bloomington,  i,  292-300. 
Convention,  Chicago,  i,  340. 

—  formally  opened,  i,  342. 

—  nominates  Lincoln,  i,  347-356. 

—  delegates  to,  i,  343-345  ;  ii,  26. 
Convention,  Decatur,  i,  339,  340. 
Convention,  Editorial,  i,  289—292. 
Convention,    National    Democratic,  i, 

362. 

Convention,  Pekin,  i,  195-197. 
Convention,  Republican.    (See  Chicago 

Convention.) 

Convention,  Springfield,  i,  316. 
Convention,  Union,  ii,  193. 
Conway,  Moncure,  ii,  88. 
Corwin,  Thomas,  i,  349. 
Couch,  Gen.,  ii,  142. 
Crafton,  Greek,  i,  273,  274. 
Crawford,  Josiah,  i,  199. 
Crawford,  Mrs.,  i,  25. 
Crotty,  William,  Mrs.,  i,  320. 
Crume,  Mary  (Lincoln)  Mrs.,  i,  6. 


Crume,  Ralph,  i,  6. 
Cullom,  Robert  M.,  i,  133. 
Cullom,  Shelby  M.,  Senator,  i,  133. 
Cullom,  Gen.,  ii,  154. 
Curtis,  Gen.,  ii,  66. 
Curtis,  Geo.  Wm.,  i,  349. 
Custom  House,    New  York,   meeting 
in,  ii,  249. 


Dana,  Charles  A.,  Assistant  Secretary, 

ii,  81,  144. 
Davis,    David,    Judge,    partiality    for 

Lincoln,  i,  244-246,  267,  268,   296, 

345- 

—  sees  New  Jersey  delegation,  i,  350, 

351,  381  ;  ii,  76,  254. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  i,  90,  208,  382 ;  ii, 
39,  172,  174,  183,  210,  229,  230. 

Davis,  J.  McCann,  i,  8. 

Dawes,  Senator,  ii,  56. 

Dawson  John,  i,  130. 

Dayton,  of  New  Jersey,  i,  347. 

Debates,  Freeport,  i,  363. 

Debates,  Lincoln-Douglas,  i,  281,  303, 
307-322,  326. 

Defeat,  Stillman's,  i,  79. 

Democrats,  organization  of,  i,  126. 

Department  of  the  West,  ii,  61. 

Derickson,  D.  V.,  Capt.,   ii,  154-156. 

Dickerson,  E.  N.,  i,  261,262. 

Dickinson,  Daniel  L.,  ii,  249. 

Dickey,  Judge  T.  Lyle,  story  of  Lin 
coln,  i,  287,  288. 

Diller,  Roland,  i,  236. 

District  of  Columbia,  slavery  in,  i,  228. 

Dix,  Gen.,  ii,  167. 

Dixon,  John,  i,  83. 

Dodge,  Henry,  Gov.,  i,  83,  90. 

Dodd,  Ira  Seymour,  ii,  137. 

Dougherty,  E.  C.,  i,  289. 

Douglass,  Fred.,  i,  320. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  i,  114,  126,  133, 

153- 

—  phenomenal  record,  i,  159. 

—  campaign  of  1837-1840,  i,  159,  163. 

—  character,  i,  160,  172, 173,  207,  267. 

—  serious  struggles,  i,  280,  281,  284, 

306,  335,  336. 

—  doctrine,  i,  363,  378,  380,  382,  385, 

386,  391,  393,  414. 

—  holds  Lincoln's  hat,  ii,  5. 

—  offers  aid  to  Lincoln,  ii,  35. 
Douglas,  Wm.  A.,  i,  272. 


466 


INDEX 


Draft  bill,  ii,  147. 
Drake,  C.  D.,  ii,  175. 
Draper,  A.  G.,  Prof.,  ii,  245. 
Dream,  President's,  ii,  233,  234. 
Dresser,  Nathan,  i,  204. 
Drummond,  Josiah,  i,  345. 
Dubois,  Jesse  K.,  i,  113,  137,  158. 
Dubois,  Lincoln,  i,  410. 
"  Duff  Green's  Row,"  i,  208. 
Duncan,  Gov.,  i,  113. 
Durley,  Madison,  i,  200. 
Durley,  Williamson,  i,  200. 
Durrett,  R.  T.,  i,  4,  6. 
Discontent,  Northern,  ii,  53. 


Early,  Capt.  Jacob  M.,  i,  86,  87. 
Eaton,  John,  Gen.,  ii,  67,  68,  199. 
Eckert,  Maj.,  ii,  134,  153,  165. 
Edwards,  Cyrus,  i,  229-231. 
Edwards,  Benj.  T.,  Judge,  i,  178. 
Edwards,  B.  T.,  Mrs.,  i,  178. 
Edwards,  Ninten  W.,  i,  130,  158,  172, 

177,  178. 
Edwards,  NinianW.,  Mrs.,  i,  172, 176, 

191. 

Election,  tables  of,  i,  362-364. 
Elkins,  Wm.  F.,  i,  130. 
Ellsworth,  Colonel  of  Zouaves,  i,  371  ; 

ii,  53- 

Emancipation,  ii,  95,  96. 

Emancipation,  message  on,  compen 
sated,  ii,  97. 

Emancipation,  compensated,  ii,  96, 
in. 

Emancipation  Proclamation,  ii,  116- 
126,  163,  171,  212. 

Emancipation  Society,  ii,  99. 

Embree,  Elisha,  i,  208. 

Emerson,  Ralph,  i,  264-266. 

Emerson,  Ralph  W.,  i,  224. 

Escort,   President's    funeral,   ii,    253, 

254- 

Evans,  E.  P.,  ii,  167. 
Evarts,  Wm.  M.,  i,  349,  353,  359. 
Everett,  Edward,  ii,  35. 
Ewing,  Wm.  D.,  Hon.,i,  90,  113,  133, 

139,  158,  198. 


Farragut,  Admiral,  ii,   198,  202,  256. 
Farrar,  B.  G.,  Gen.,  ii,  63. 
Faxon,  Charles,  i,  289. 


Fell,  JesseW.,1,  334,  345. 
Ferguson,  John,  i,  no. 
Fessenden,  William  P.,  ii,  249, 
Field,  David  Dudley,  i,  327. 
Ficklin,  O.  B.,  Hon.,  i,  320. 
Fillmore,  Millard,  i,  225,  301. 
Filson,  John,  i,  4. 
Fletcher,  Job,  i,  130. 
Ford,  A.  N.,  i,  289. 
Ford's  theatre,  ii,  242. 

—  party  at,  ii,  235-237. 
Ford,  Theodore,  i,  113. 

Fort  Pickens,  ii,  16,  17,  19,  28,  31. 
Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  capture  of, 

ii,  143. 

Fort  Moultrie,  ii,  14,  15. 
Fort  Sumter,  i,  80,  387  ;  ii,  14-17,  19, 

28,  29,  31,  33,  100,  230. 
Fox,  Capt.,  ii,  134. 
Francis,  Simeon,  i,  184,  185. 
Free  soil,  i,  218,  219. 
Freedmen,  march  of,  ii,  257. 
Fremont,   John  C.,  Gen.,  i,  301 ;   ii, 

58,  60. 

—  appointment  of,  ii,  61. 

—  charges  against,  ii,  61,  65. 

—  relieved  of  command,  ii,  66-69, 128, 

133,  174,  193. 
Fremont,  Jessie  Benton,  Mrs.,  ii,  62, 

65. 

Fremont  and  Dayton,  i,  300. 
Friend,     Dennis,     commonly     called 

Hanks.     (See  Hanks,  Dennis.) 
Frontier  store,  i,  62. 
Frye,  Gen.,  ii,  148. 

Funeral  journey,  President's,  ii,  254- 
260. 


Gamble,  Gov.,  ii,  174. 
Garfield,  Gen.,  ii,  249. 
Garrison,  Wm.  Lloyd,  i,  224,  304  ;  ii, 

230. 

Gentry,  Mr.,  i,  39. 
Gentryville,    Ind.,   boyhood  home  of 

Lincoln,  i,  18. 
Giddings,  G.  H.,  i,  208,  224,  292,  349. 

—  letter  to  Lincoln,  i,  368. 

—  describes  cabinet  meeting,  ii,  20-22. 
Gillespie,  Judge,  i,  205,  230,  405,  406, 

409. 

Gilmer,  John  A.,  i,  393,  402. 
Gilmore,  James  R.  (Edmund  Kirke), 

"  Personal  Recollections  of  Abraham 

Lincoln,"  ii,  171,  172. 


INDEX 


467 


Goggin  of  Virginia,  i,  382.  Hanks,  Joseph,  brother  of  Nancy,  i, 

Gollaher,  Austin,  i,  14,  15.  7,  232. 

Graham,  Christopher  Columbus,  Dr.,  i,  Hanks,  Nancy.    (See  Nancy  [Hanks] 

10,  14,  35.  Lincoln,  Mrs.) 

Graham,  Mentor,  i,  61,  66,  100,  117.  Hanks,  Nancy  (Shipley),  Mrs.,  i,  7. 

Grant,  Mrs.,  ii,  235,  236.  Hanks,  William,  i,  7. 

Grant,  Ulysses  S.,  Gen.,  in  the  West,  Hardie,  Col.,  ii,  153. 

11,  143,  144.    ^  Hardin,   John   J.,    Col.,  i,    114,  158, 

—  appointed    Lieutenant-General,    ii,  166,  180,  189,  194-197,  202-206,  212. 

145,  170.  Harding,  Col.,  ii,  64. 

—  mentioned  for  Presidency,  ii,  186-  Harding,  George,   relates   meeting  of 
189.  Lincoln  and  Stanton,  i,  260-264. 

—  attacks  Petersburg,  ii,  194,  199,  208,  Harlan,  James,  Hon.,  i,  423-425;  ii,  4, 

225.  n,  103,  198,  232. 

—  final  movements,  ii,  227,  233,  235,  Harris,  Lieut.,  i,  83,  84. 

236.  Harris,  Ira,   Senator,  ii,  236,  237. 

Greeley,  Horace,  i,  292,  303,  304,  307,  Harris,  Miss,  ii,  237. 

315,  327,  344,   347,  349,  352,  354,  Harrison,  Peachy,  i,  273-275. 

369,   370.     (  Harrison,  Wm.  Henry,  Gen.,   i,   163, 

—  editorials,  i,  395,  398,  418;  ii,  117,  165,  166. 

118,  119.  Hawley,  Joseph,  i,  349. 

—  opposes  Lincoln,  ii,  171,  172,  195-  Hay,  John,  ii,  40. 

198.  Hazel,  Caleb,  i,  16. 

Green,  Bowling,  "  Squire,"  i,  no,  in.  Head,  Jesse,   Rev.,   marries   Thomas 

Greene,   friend  of  Lincoln,  i,  66,  67,  Lincoln  and  Nancy  Hanks,  i,  10,  35. 

75,  76.  Helm,  Mrs.,  i,  179. 

Grigsby,  Aaron,  i,  27.  Henderson,  T.  J.,  Gen.,  i,  165. 

Grigsby,  Nat.,  i,  43.  Henderson,  John  B.,  secures  pardons 

Grigsby,  Sarah  Lincoln,  Mrs.,  i,  13,  from  Lincoln,  ii,  223-225. 

27.  Henderson,  Wm.  H.,  i,  166. 

Grimes,  Senator,  ii,  246,  247.  Henry,  A.  G.,  Dr.,  i,  180,-  323. 

Grosscup,  Peter  Stenger,  Hon.,  ii,  113.  Henry,  Gen.,  i,  81-84. 

Grow,  G.  A.,  Hon.,  ii,  21,  42,  18.  Herndon,  Arthur,  i,  130. 

Gurley,  Dr.,  pastor  of  Lincoln,  ii,  244,  Herndon  Brothers,  i,  92. 

249,  252,  253.  Herndon,  James,  i,  92. 

Herndon,  Rowan,  i,  92,  106. 
Herndon,  Wm.   H.,  i,  29,  33,  40,  44, 

H  57,  58,  62,  105,  106,  174-177,  I79» 
192,  214,   239,  249,  259,  269,  295, 

Hale,  Edward  Everett,  Rev.,  ii,  97.  304,  409. 

Hale,  J.  T.,  Hon.,  i,  392.  Herndon  and'Weik,  i,  250. 

Hall,  Levi,  i,  47,  49.  Hicks,  of  New  York,  i,  373. 

Halleck,  H.  W.,  Gen.,  ii,  84.  Hill  and  McNeill,  i,  91. 

—  appointed  General-in-Chief,  ii,  128,  Hill,  John,  i,  255. 

130,  134,  135,  139,  140,  143,  144,  Hill,  Samuel,  i,  106,  117;  ii,  90. 

154.  Hingham,  Mass.,  arrival  of   Lincoln 

Hallucination,  i,  404.  family  in,  i,  I. 

Halstead,  Murat,  i,  349,  352.  Hitchcock,     Caroline     Hanks,    Mrs., 

Hamlin,     Hannibal,     Vice-President,  compiler    of   genealogy  of    Hanks 

meeting   with  Lincoln,  i,  378,  397,  family  in  America,  i,  7. 

398.  Hitt,  Robert  L.,  Hon.,  i,  277,  315, 

—  loyalty  to  Lincoln,  ii,  189.  322. 

Hanks,  Benjamin,  i,  7.  Hoar,  Gen.,  i,  224. 
Planks,  Dennis,  i,  14,  22,  33.  Hogan,  John,  Rev.,  i,  166. 
Hanks,  John,  i,  58,  65.  Hooker,  Joseph,  Gen.,  relieves  Burn- 
Hanks,  Joseph,  i,  7,  8.  side,  ii,  135. 


468 


INDEX 


Hooker,  Joseph,  receipt  of  President's 
letter,  ii,  136-139,  162,  170. 

Howells,  W.  D.,  i,  370. 

Hospitals,  ii,  157-161. 

Houston,  Sam,  Gov.,ii,  20-23. 

Hoyt,  Col.,  i,  353. 

Hunter,  David,  Gen.,  i,  379,  396;  ii, 
64,  67,  68,  102,  254. 

Hunter,  R.  M.  T.,  ii,  210,  211. 

Hurlburt,  Gen.,  ii,  218,  219. 

Hyer,  Tom,  i,  343,  344. 


lies,  Capt.,  "Footsteps  and  Wander- 

ings,"  i,  80-84,  86. 
Illinois,  Convention  system  of,  i,  i,  93. 
Illinois,  Eighth  Judicial  Circuit  of,  i, 
242-245. 

—  Ninth  General  Assembly  of,  ni- 

114,  124-126. 

—  Tenth  General  Assembly  of,  i,  127, 

132,  142-145,  147,  159- 

—  State  taxes,  i,  185. 

—  Address  to  the  people   of,    i,  193. 
Inauguration  Ball,  i,  209. 

Internal  improvements,  public  utility 
of,  i,  67-72, 

J 

Jackson,  Andrew,  Gen.,  i,  396;  ii,  12. 
James,  B.  F.,  i,  202. 
Jayne,  Julia,  Miss,  i,  185,  186,  191. 
Jefferson,  Joseph,  Autobiography  of,  i, 

248,  249. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  i,  35,  325,  380,414. 
Johnson,  Andrew,  i,  208. 
Johnson  Reverdy,  i,  261,  262. 
Johnson,  ex-Governor,  ii,  176. 
Johnston,  Albert  Sidney,  i,  90. 
Johnston,  Gen.,  ii,  208,  226. 
Johnston,  John,  half  brother  of  Lin 
coln,  i,  21,  233,  238. 
Johnston,  A.  E.  H.,  Maj.,  ii,  130. 
Johnston,  Matilda,  i,  21. 
Johnston,  Sally  Bush.     (See  Lincoln, 
Sally  [Bush],  Mrs.) 

ohnston,  Sarah,  i,  21. 

ones,  of  Gentryville,  i,  34. 

ones,  J.  Russell,  ii,  187-189. 

ones,  Wm.,  Capt.,  i,  48. 

ones,  of  Cincinnati,  i,  373,  374. 

udd,   Norman   B.,   i,  275,  277,  278, 
316,  324,  339,  345. 


Judd,  Norman  B.,  nominates  Lincoln, 

i,  354,  418,  420,  422. 
Judd,  Norman  B.,  Mrs.,  i,  277,  278. 
Julian,  George  W.,  i,  398  ;  ii,  5,  94. 


K 


Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  i,  280-284. 
Keene,  Laura,  ii,  235,  236. 
Kellogg's  Grove,  skirmish  of,  i,  87. 
Kellogg,  Wm.,  i,  391. 
Kelley,  William  D.,  Judge,  i,  345,  359. 
Kelso,  Jack,  i,  93,  107,  no. 
Kidd,  T.  W.  L,  i,  251,  252. 
King,  Preston,  i,  292,  349. 
Knox,  Joseph  B.,  i,  277. 


Lamar,  John,  Capt,  i,  32. 

Lamon,  Marshal,  ii,  254. 

Lamon,  Ward,  i,  251,  268,  269,  419; 
ii,  254. 

Lane,  Henry  S.,  i,  346,  352. 

Lane,  Senator,  ii,  37,  173. 

Law,  martial,  established,  ii,  243. 

Lawrence,  Geo.,  i,  412. 

Lecompton  Constitution,  i,  303. 

Lee,  Gen.,  ii,  120,  131,  134,  140-142, 
193,  208,  229. 

Leighton,  George,  Col.,  ii,  63,  65. 

Levering,  Mrs.,  i,  178. 

Levis,  Edward,  i,  188,  189. 

Libby  Prison,  ii,  229. 

Liberty  Men,  i,  200-202. 

Lieber,  Francis,  ii,  13. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  of  Berks  Co.,  i,  2. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  cousin  of  the  Presi 
dent,  i,  232. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  son  of  John,  i,  3. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  of  Rockingham 
Co.,  Va.,  i,  8. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  President,  birth, 
Feb.  12,  1809,  i,  14. 

—  early  childhood,  i,  14-17. 

—  boyhood  in  Indiana,  i,  18-27. 

—  life  on  the  farm,  i,  21. 

—  desultory  education,  i,  29-34. 

—  effect  of  tragedies,  i,  27,  28. 

—  backwoods  orator,  i,  36. 

—  first  dollar,  i,  38. 

—  on  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers,  i, 

37-40. 

—  impression  on  others,  i,  40-44. 

—  clearness  in  argument,  i,  43,  44. 


INDEX 


469 


Lincoln,   Abraham,    leaves    Indiana, 
1830,  for  Decatur.Ill.,  i,  45-49. 

—  first  monument,  i,  46. 

—  strength  and  appearance,  i,  49-51. 

—  rail  splitting,  i,  49,  51. 

—  flat  boating,  i,  51-56. 

—  sees  slavery,  i,  57,  58,  200,  222. 

—  in  New  Salem,  1831-32,  i,  59-67. 

—  authority,  i,  64. 

—  speech  to  beat,  i,  65. 

—  honesty,  i,  65. 

—  grammar,  i,  66. 

—  "  practicing  polemics,"  i,  66. 

—  studying  men,  i,  66. 

—  candidate  for  General  Assembly  of 

the  State,  March,  1832,  i,  67-72. 

—  piloting  the  "  Talisman,"  i,  72. 

—  Capt.  of  Sangamon  Company,  i,  75- 

—  Black  Hawk  War,  i,  78-87. 

—  disbanded  at  Whitewater,  Wis.,  i, 

87,  88. 

—  candidate  for  State  Assembly,  i,  89- 
91. 

—  storekeeper  in  New  Salem,  i,  91-96. 

—  reading,  93-94. 

—  postmaster  in  New  Salem,  i,  96-98. 

—  message  on  compensated   emanci 

pation,  ii,  96-98,  100,  101. 

—  summer  of  1833,  i,  98. 

—  surveying,  i,  99-101. 

—  appalling  debt,  i,  104,  105. 

—  relations  with  community,  i,  106. 

—  elected  to  Illinois  legislature,  1834, 

i,  108,  109. 

—  studying  law,  i,  109,  no. 

—  in  Ninth  Assembly,  i,  111-115. 

—  meeting  with  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 

i,  114. 

—  love  for  Ann  Rutledge,  i,  116-121. 

—  intellectual  equipment  at  twenty-six, 

i,  121-123. 

—  first  experience  as  legislator,  i,  124- 

126. 

—  campaign     for     Tenth    Assembly, 

1836,  i,  127-129. 

—  reflected,  i,  130. 

—  admitted  to   bar  at  Springfield,  i, 

132. 

—  work  in  Tenth  Assembly,  i,  132-144. 

—  social  life  in  Vandalia,  i,  145,  146. 

—  Major  Stuart's  partner,  i,  147. 

—  removes  to  Springfield,  i,  147. 

—  Mary  Owens,  i,  149-153. 

—  controversy  with  Gen.   Adams,   i, 

155-157. 


Lincoln,  Abraham,  clever  strategist,  i, 
157,  158. 

—  meeting  with  Douglas,  i,  159. 

—  campaign  against   Douglas,    1837- 

1840,  i,  159-163. 

—  campaign  of  1840,  i,  160-169. 

—  monster  political  meetings,  i,  165. 

—  social  life  in  Springfield,  i,  170-172. 

—  engagement  to  Mary  Todd,  i,   172, 

173- 

—  breaking  of  engagement  to   Mary 

Todd,  i,  174-181. 

—  friendship  with  Speed,  i,  181-184. 

—  encounter  with  Shields,  i,  184-190. 

—  marries  Mary  Todd,  i,  190,  191. 

—  candidate   for  Congress,    1842,    i, 

192-194. 

—  supports  Baker  and  Hardin,  i,  194- 

197. 

—  Pekin  convention,  1843,  i,  195-197. 

—  campaign  work,  i,  197-199. 

—  fears  Hardin's  reelection,  i,  202-206. 

—  elected  to  Congress,  August,  1846, 

i,  206. 

—  in  Washington,  1847,  i,  207-212. 

—  Spot  Resolutions,  i,  212-215. 

—  forms    "Young    Indian"   club,    i, 

216. 

—  speaks  for  Taylor,  i,  216,  220. 

—  slavery  question,  i,  220-224. 

—  at  Niagara,  i,  225,  226. 

—  an  inventor,  i,  227. 

—  bill  to  abolish  slavery  in  District  of 

Columbia,  i,  228. 

—  end  of  congressional  career,  1849, 

i,  299. 

—  refutes  Edwards'  accusation,  i,  230, 

231. 

—  declines  governorship  of  Oregon,  i, 

232. 

—  assists  relatives,  i,  232-234. 

—  with  children,  i,  235-237  ;  ii,  87,  88. 

—  religion,  i,  237,  238. 

—  devotion  to  study,  238-240. 

—  abandons  politics  for  law,  i,  241. 

—  on  the  Eighth  Circuit,  i,  242-247. 

—  humor  and  helpfulness,  i,  246,  247. 

—  conduct  of  cases,  i,  247-256. 

—  telling  stories,  i,  253-256. 

—  place  in  legal  circle,  i,  257. 

—  defence  of  slave  girl,  i,  257,  258. 

—  case  of  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  i, 

258,  259- 

—  meets  Stanton,  i,  260-264. 

—  McCormick  case,  i,  260-266. 

—  fees,  i,  267-270. 


47o 


INDEX 


Lincoln,  Abraham,  Armstrong  murder 
case,  i,  270-273. 

—  Harrison  murder  case,  i,  273-275. 

—  Rock   Island  Bridge  case,  i,   275- 

278. 

—  Missouri  Compromise,  i,  279-299. 

—  campaign  under  Fremont  and  Day 

ton,  i,  300. 

—  proposed    as   candidate    for  Vice- 

Presidency,  June  17,  i,  300. 

—  Lincoln-Douglas  debates,    i,  302- 

326. 

—  speeches  in  New  England,  i,  330- 

332. 

—  a  national  figure,  i,  332,  333. 

—  autobiography,  i,  338. 

—  the  rail  candidate,  i,  340,  353. 

—  Cooper  Institute  speech,  i,  326,  330, 

341. 

—  newspaper  support,  i,  339,  341. 

—  compromise  candidate,  i,  347. 

—  nomination  for  President,   1860,  i, 

350-358. 

—  campaign,  1860,  i,  359-372. 

—  letter  of  acceptance,  i,  361. 

—  visitors,  i,  373-375- 

—  policy  of  silence,  i,  376-378. 

—  certainty  of  election,  i,  378-384. 

—  election  day,  i,  384-386. 

—  votes  for,  i,  386. 

—  President  elect,  i,  387. 

—  news  of  disruption,  i,  387-389. 

—  replies  to  appeals,  i,  390-395. 

—  cabinet,  i,  398-403,  423-426. 

—  simple   propositions,  I,  2,  3,  4,  i, 

396,  397- 

—  prepares  inaugural  address,  i,  403. 

—  events   preceding   inauguration,   i, 

404-410. 

—  journey  to  Washington,  i,  411-423. 

—  first  inauguration,  ii,  1-13. 

—  decides  fate  of  Fort  Sumter,  ii,  14- 

19. 

—  prevents  accessions  to  the  Confeder 

acy,  ii,  19-22. 

—  besieged   by  office-seekers,  ii,  23- 

26. 

—  Seward's  attitude  to,  ii,  26-30. 

—  reply  to  Seward,  ii,  30-32. 

—  preparing  for  Civil  War,  ii,  33-45. 

—  conditions  in  the  White  House,  ii, 

45-48. 

—  relation  to  the  common  soldier,  ii, 

49.  50- 

—  impresses  others,  ii,  51,  52. 

—  how  to  use  the  army,  ii,  52-55. 


Lincoln,  Abraham,  battle  of  Bull  Run, 
ii,  55-57- 

—  gives  McClellan  command,  ii,  59. 

—  "Memoranda    of    Military    Policy 

Suggested  by  Bull  Run  Defeat," 
.  ",  57,  58. 

—  improves  morale  of  officers  and  men, 

ii,  60. 

—  trouble  with  Fremont,  ii,  61-66. 

—  disappointment  in  McClellan,  ii,  69, 

70. 

—  receives  news  of  Col.  Baker's  death, 

ii,  70,  71. 

—  Trent  affair,  ii,  72-75. 

—  rights  of  neutrals,  ii,  72-75. 

—  trouble  in  official  family,  ii,  76-78. 

—  appoints  Stanton,  ii,  78-80. 

—  first  encounter  with  Stanton,  1865, 

ii,  79. 

—  defends  McClellan,  ii,  8r,  83. 

—  memorandum  of  military  policy,  ii, 

83. 

—  military  authority,  ii,  84,  85. 

—  war  order,  first  special,  ii,  86. 

—  bitter  private  sorrow,  ii,  87-89. 

—  seeks  religious  help,  ii,  89-92. 

—  receives  committees,  ii,  93. 

—  issues  war  orders,  ii,  94. 

—  denounced,  ii,  95. 

—  plans  Compensated  Emancipation, 

ii,  96-101. 

—  revokes  Hunter's  order,  ii,  102. 

—  offers  to  resign,  ii,  103,  104. 

—  in  the  War  Department,  ii,  105- 

107. 

—  difficulties  with  McClellan,  ii,  107- 

no,  128-133. 

—  address  to  Border  State  representa 

tives,  ii,  111-113. 

—  seeks  a  General,  ii,  127. 

—  appoints  Halleck,  ii,  128. 

—  appoints  Burnside,  ii,  133-135. 

—  appoints  Hooker,  ii,  135-137. 

—  reviews  army,  ii,  137,  138. 

—  receives  war  news,  ii,  138,  142. 

—  notices  Grant,  ii,  143,  144. 

—  interview  with  Leonard  Swett,  ii, 

II3-U5. 

—  Emancipation  Proclamation,  ii,  116- 

126. 

—  appoints  Grant  Lieutenant-General, 

ii,  145. 

—  filling  the  ranks,  ii,  146-149. 

—  personal  friend  of  soldiers,  ii,  150- 

157- 

—  in  the  hospitals,  ii,  159-161. 


INDEX 


471 


Lincoln,  Abraham,  sorrow  in  punish 
ing  deserters,  ii,  161-169. 

—  suspends  executions,  ii,  164-168. 

—  in  1863,  ii,  170. 

—  opposed  by  radicals,  ii,  171,  180. 

—  substantial  results  of  policy,  ii,  171. 

—  conducts    Vallandigham     case,    ii, 

180-186. 

—  finds  out  Grant's  feelings,  ii,  187- 

189,  199,  200. 

—  ignores   Chase's   electioneering,  ii, 

190. 

—  renommated,  n,  191-194. 

—  visits  Grant,  ii,  194. 

—  calls  for  more  volunteers,  ii,  195. 

—  meets  Greeley's  criticism,  ii,  196- 

198. 

—  alarmed  by  discontent,  ii,  199. 

—  duty  if  defeated,  ii,  201,  202. 

—  reelection,  ii,  204. 

—  reflections  on  the  election,  ii,  205- 

207. 

—  letters  to  Sherman,  ii,  209. 

—  replies  to  Jefferson  Davis,  ii,  210. 

—  meets  Confederate  envoys,  ii,  211. 

—  view  of  Emancipation  Proclamation, 

ii,  212-216. 

—  reconstruction,  ii,  217-219. 

—  a  mighty  problem,  ii,  220,  221. 

—  explains    Emancipation    Proclama 

tion,  ii,  222. 

—  second  inaugural,  ii,  222,  223. 

—  pardons  prisoners  of  war,  223-225. 

—  at  City  Point,  ii,  225,  227. 

—  enters  Richmond,  227,  228. 

—  orders  draft  suspended,  ii,  229. 

—  change  in  appearance,  ii,  232. 

—  feelings  at  the  end  of  the  war,  ii, 

231. 

—  the  I4th  of  April,  ii,  232-237. 

—  "the   President  is  shot,"  ii,  238- 

242. 

—  death  of,  ii,  243,  244. 

—  mourning  for,  ii,  245-251. 

—  funeral  of,  ii,  250-260. 

—  grave  of,  ii,  260. 

—  tributes  to,  ii,  261. 

—  the  real,  ii,  261,  262. 

Lincoln  and  Herndon,  i,  241,  267,  315. 
Lincoln,  Daniel,  i,  I. 
Lincoln,  Enoch,  i,  2. 
Lincoln  family,  i,  I. 
Lincoln,  George,  of  Brooklyn,  i,  375. 
Lincoln,  Jacob,  i,  3. 
Lincoln,  John,  called  "Virginia  John," 
i,  2. 


Lincoln,  Josiah,  i,  6. 
Lincoln  and  Lamon,  i,  251. 
Lincoln,  Levi,  i,  i. 
Lincoln,  Levi,  Jr.,  i,  2. 
Lincoln,  Mary  (Shipley),  Mrs.,  i,  8. 
Lincoln,  Mary  Todd,  Mrs.,  family  of, 
i,  172. 

—  engagement  to  Lincoln,  i,  173. 

—  engagement  broken,  i,  174-179,  181, 

184,  185.. 

—  marries  Lincoln,  i,   190,  191,  366; 

ii,  37,  231,  236,  237,  252. 

Lincoln,  Mordecai,  i,  2. 

Lincoln,  Mordecai,  second,  i,  2. 

Lincoln,  Mordecai,  grandson  of  John, 
.i,  5,  6. 

Lincoln,  Mordecai,  brother  of  Thomas, 
j,  8,  232. 

Lincoln,  Mordecai,  cousin  of  the  Presi 
dent,  i,  232. 

Lincoln,  Mordecai,  uncle  of  the  Presi 
dent,  i,  232. 

Lincoln,  Nancy,  called  Sarah,  i,  14. 

Lincoln,  Nancy  (Hanks),  Mrs.,  mother 
of  the  President,  i,  7,  8,  19,  20,  22, 
27,  35,  220. 

Lincolns  of  Hingham,  i,  366. 

Lincoln,  Robert,  son  of  the  President, 
i,  330  ;  ii,  233,  242. 

Lincoln,  Sally  Bush,  Mrs.,  marries 
Thomas  Lincoln,  i,  21. 

—  relation  with  stepson,  i,  32. 

—  her  character  of  Lincoln,  i,  44. 

—  death,  i,  169. 

—  visited  by  Lincoln,  i,  408. 
Lincoln,   Samuel,   of  Hingham,  i,  i, 

217. 

Lincoln,  Sarah,  sister  of  the  President. 
(See  Grigsby,  Sarah  [Lincoln],  Mrs.) 

Lincoln,  Tad  (Thomas),  son  of  the 
President,  i,  236 ;  ii,  87,  88,  157, 
252. 

Lincoln,  Thomas,  i,  i. 

Lincoln,  Thomas,  father  of  the  Presi 
dent,  i,  6. 

—  marriage  with  Nancy  Hanks,  i,  7, 

8-10. 

—  position  in  Hardin  Co.,  i,  13. 

—  birth  of  son  Abraham,  i,  14. 

—  emigrates  to  Indiana,  i,  18. 

—  marries  Mrs.  Sally  Bush  Johnston, 

i,  21,  25,  35. 

—  leaves  Indiana  for  Illinois,  i,  45,  47, 

65- 

—  poor  livelihood,  i,  147,  220. 

—  illness,  i,  238. 


472 


INDEX 


Lincoln,  Willie,  son  of  the  President, 

ii,  87. 

—  death  of,  ii,  89,  253. 
Linder,    Gen.,  "  Reminiscences"    of, 

i,  i,  40,  136,  254. 
Logan,  John,  Judge,  i,  91,  133,  252, 

274,  337,  345,  354- 
Logan,  Stephen  T.,  i,  89,  113. 
Longfellow,  Henry  W.,  i,  224. 
"Long  Nine,"  the,  i,  130,  153. 
"  Lost  Speech,"  i,  296. 
Lott,  Elijah,  i,  189. 
Louisiana  Purchase,  i,  279. 
Lovejoy,  Elijah,  anti-slavery  editor,  i, 

143,  221. 

Lovejoy,  Owen,  i,  322  ;  ii,  in. 
Lowell,  James  Russell,  ii,  65,  224,  231. 
Lundy,    Benjamin,      editor    of     the 

"Genius,"  i,  35. 
Lutes,  William,  i,  25. 
Lyon,  Gen.,  ii,  63. 
Lynching  prevented,  ii,  247,  248. 


M 


Manny,   John   T.      (See   McCormick 

case.) 

Marshall,  Humphrey,  ii,  22. 
Mason  and  Slidell,  capture  of,  ii,  72, 

73- 

—  surrender  of,  ii,  74. 
McClellan,  George  B.,  Gen.,  story  cur 
rent  of,  i,  259. 

—  takes  command  of  army,  ii,  59. 

—  preparing  for  the  field,  ii,  69,  70, 

71,  80-85. 

—  campaign  of  1862,  ii,  107-110, 120. 

—  failure,  ii,  127-133. 

—  removed,  ii,  133,  161,  202,  204. 
"  McClellan's  Own  Story,"  i,  260. 
McClure,  A.  K.,  Col.,  i,  349,  398  ;  ii, 

140,  141. 
McClernand,  John  A.,  i,  133,  274,  349  ; 

",  139- 

McCormick,  Andrew,  i,  130. 

McCormick  case,  i,  260-266,  278. 

McCormick,   Cyrus  H.    (See  McCor 
mick  case.) 

Mcllvaine,  A.  R.,  i,  208. 

McDowell,  Gen.,  ii,  56,  108. 

McKenny,  T.  I.,  Gen.,  ii,  66. 

McLean,  of  Pennsylvania,  i,  347,  352, 

354- 
McNeill,  John,  i,  117-119. 


McPherson,  H,  170. 

McRae,  of  North  Carolina,  i,  382. 

Meade,   Gen.,  ii,   140-142,    165,  166, 

168. 
Medill,  Joseph  A.,  Hon.,  i,  295,  316, 

322. 

—  "Reminiscences,"  17339,  347,  349- 

—  takes  message  to  President,  ii,  148, 
149. 

Merryman,  E.  H.,  i,  186,  187-189. 

Militia,  call  for,  ii,  34. 

Mexican  War,   i,  212-215,  219,    291, 

320. 
Missouri  Compromise,  i,  35,  257,  279- 

299. 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  ii,  75. 
Morgan,  E.  D.,  Gov.,  i,  292. 
Morris,  i,  204. 
Morrison,  Don,  i,  229,  231. 
Morton,  Oliver  P.,  i,  292. 
Moultrie,  Fort,  ii,  14,  15. 


N 


Neapope,  i,  74. 

New  Salem,  map  of,  i,  9. 

New  Salem,  scene  of  Lincoln's  mer 
cantile  career,  i,  59,  60. 

Nicolay,  Jno.  G.,  i,  176;  ii,  i,  37. 

Nicolay  and  Hay,  "  Abraham  Lincoln, 
A  History,"  i,  225,  390,  392,  393, 
410  ;  ii,  ii,  31,  84,  85,  116,  142,  177. 

Norton,  Charles,  ii,  231. 

Norton,  Miss,  ii,  65. 

New  York  City,  in  mourning,  ii,  270, 

—  meeting  at  Custom  House,  ii,  249. 

—  Lincoln's  funeral  in,  ii,  255-257. 


Ode  for  the  Burial  of  Abraham  Lin 
coln,  ii,  257. 

Officee,  H.  H.,  ii,  151. 

Office  seekers,  ii,  23-25. 

Offut,  Denton,  i,  51,  59-65,  72. 

Oglesby,  Richard  J.,  i,  290,  322,  340, 
345  ;  ii,  235. 

Oldroyd,  O.  F.,  i,  345. 

Onstott,  Henry,  i,  no. 

Order,  first  special  war,  ii,  86. 

Ordinance  of  1787,  i,  33,  34,  278. 

Osborne,  Charles,  i,  35. 

Owens,  Mary,  i.,  133,  149-152,  173- 


INDEX 


473 


P  Richmond,  condition  of,  ii,  228. 

Riney,  Zachariah,  i,  16. 

Palfrey,  i,  224.  "  River  Queen,"  steamer,  ii,  211. 

Palmer,  John    M.,  i,  292,  322,  337,  Robbins,  Z.  S.,  ii,  123. 

340,  345,  350,  357.  Rodney,  Miss.,  i,  igi. 

Pardons,  ii,  223.  Rock  Island  Bridge  case,  i,  275-278. 

Parrott,  John  H.,  i,  10.  Roll,  John,  Mr.,  i,  53. 

Parker,  Theodore,  i,  303,  304.  Rosecrans,  W.  S.,  Gen.,  ii,  135,  171, 

Patterson,  Gen.,  ii,  58.  172. 

Peck,  Ebenezer,  i,  126,  159.  Rosewater,  Mr.,  ii,  134. 

Perry,  of  South  Carolina,  i,  382.  Ross,  Thomas,  i,  411. 

Petersburg,  111.,  laid  out  by  Lincoln,  Ruggles,  J.  M.,  Hon.,  i,  132,  195. 

i,  101.  Russell,  W.  H.,  ii,  17. 

Pettis,  S.  Newton,  Judge,  i,  352,  354.  Rutledge,  Ann,  i,  9,  116-120,  121. 
Phillips,  Wendell,  i,  224,  304. 
Piatt,  i,  374. 

Pierce,  Franklin  W.,  i,  306. 
Pickett,  Thomas  J.,  i,  289. 
Pinkerton,  Allan,  i,  418. 

Pitcher,  John,  Judge,  i,  34.  Sangamon,  navigation  of,  i,  68. 

Plot  in  Baltimore,  i,  419.  "  San  Jacinto,"  warship,  ii,  72. 

Pollock,  James,  i,  208.  Schneider,  George,  i,  290,  340. 

Pomeroy,  Senator,  ii,  190,  191.  Schofield,  Gen.,  ii,  173,  179. 

Pope,  John,  Gen.,  ii,  128-130.  School,  Old  Carter,  i,  199. 

Poore,  Ben:  Perley,  i,  211  ;  ii,  47.  Scott,  Dred,  i,  302,  303,  307. 

Potts,  Mr.,  ii,  152.  Scott,  Gen.,  i,  82,  90,  396,  408,  419, 

Porter,  Admiral,  ii,  226,  228.  420 ;  ii,  3,  4,  16,  17-19,  30,  39,  54, 

Preetorius,  Emil,  Dr.,  ii,  61,  173.  56,  81,  127,  128,  256. 

Prescott,  C.  J.,  i,  397.  Scott,  Judge,  i,  166-168,  253,  254,  293. 

Press,  i,  365,  366.  Schurz,   Carl,   i,   349,   359,   369,    380, 

Prickett,    Josephine    Gillespie,     Mrs.  399 ;  ii,  98-100. 

i,  405.  Scripps,  John  L.,  i,  29,  322. 

Proclamation,  Emancipation,   ii,  116-  Seamon,  John,  i,  53,  54. 

126,  163,  171,  212.  Secession,  question  of,  ii,  8. 

Selby,  Paul,  i,  284,  289,  290,  292. 
Seward,  Frederick,  i,  419,  420;  ii,  74, 

R  125. 

—  stabbed,  ii,  242. 

Radford,  Reuben,  i,  91,  92.  Seward,  Wm.    H.,   Secretary,  i,  224, 

Radicals,  Missouri,  ii,  172.  303,  304,   335,  339,  343,  344,  350, 

Rails,  i,  49,  98,  99,  366.  352-355,  357,   3^9,  37°,  374,    380, 

Ralston,  Virgil  Y.,  i,  289.  381,  392,   399,  400,  402,  407,  420, 

Randall,  Gov.,  ii,  42.  424-426;  ii,  i,  6,  9,  ii,  19,  22,  31. 

Rathbone,  H.  R.,  Major,  11,236,  237.  — ambition,  ii,  26-28. 

— with  Lincoln's  assassin,  ii,  239,  240.  —  some  thoughts    for  the  President's 

Ray,  Charles  H.,  i,  290.  consideration,  ii,  29,  30. 

Raymond,  editor,  i,  370 ;  ii,  202.  —  begins  to  understand    Lincoln,    ii, 

Reconstruction,  ii,  217,  234,  252.  32,  56,  74,  76,  97,  99,   113,  125, 

Reeder,  Andrew  H.,  i,  349.  189,  210,  211-. 

Republican  party  in  Illinois,  formation  —  stabbed,  ii,  242. 

of,  i,  289.  Seward,  Mrs.,  ii,  28,  32. 

Resources,  national,  ii,  206-208.  Shaw,  B.  F.,  i,  290. 

Reynolds,  i,  21,  75,  79,  80.  Sherman,    Gen.,  ii,   49,   51,   60,   I7O, 

Repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  198,  202,  208,  226,  233. 

i,  279.  Shields,  James,  i,  22,  159,  172. 

Richardson,  Col.,  ii,  68.  —  encounter  with  Lincoln,  i,  184-190. 


474 


INDEX 


Shipley,  Lucy.  (See  Berry,  Lucy  [Ship- 

ley],  Mrs.) 
Shipley,    Mary.     (See  Lincoln,    Mary 


[Shipley],  Mrs.) 
tiiple\ 


Shipley,  Nancy.     (See  Hanks,  Nancy 

[Shipley],  Mrs.) 
Shipley,  Rachel,  Mrs.,  i,  8. 
Shipley,  Robert,  i,  8. 
Short,  James,  i,  105,  106. 
Simpson,  Bishop,  ii,  252. 

—  President's  funeral  oration,  ii,  260. 
"Silver  Grays,"  ii,  39. 

Simmons,  Pollard,  i,  gg. 

Sixth  Massachusetts,  attacked  by  mob 

in  Baltimore,  ii,  37,  38. 
Slavery  prohibited,  ii,  215. 
Small,  Col.,  ii,  43. 
Smith,   Caleb   B.,   Secretary,    i,   354, 

402,  424,  425  ;  ii,  ig. 
Smith,  Leslie,  i,  166. 
Southern  Confederacy,  founding  of  the, 

i,  388  ;  ii,  95,  104. 
South,  threats  of,  i,  379-387. 
Speech,  Lost,  i,  2g6-2gg. 
Speed,  Joshua,  i,  128,  I2g,  147,  174, 

175,  I7g,  181-183,   igo,  22g  ;  ii,  g7. 
Spot  Resolutions,  i,  212-214. 
Spriggs,  Mrs.,  i,  208,  223. 
Springfield,  condition  of,  i,  148. 

—  mass  meeting  in,  i,  372. 

—  election  in,  i,  384. 

—  President's  body  brought  back  to, 
ii,  260. 

Stanton,  Edwin  M.,  Secretary,  in  con 
nection  with  McCormick  case,  i,  260- 
266. 

—  appointment  of,  ii,  7g-8i,  106,  107, 

130,  134,  148,  163. 

—  impressions  of  Lincoln,  ii,  234,  243, 

244,  257. 

Star  of  the  West,  ii,  15. 
Stedman,  E.  C.,  i,  371. 
Stevens,  Thaddeus,  i,  34g,  353,  36g. 
Stillman,  Major,  i,  78,  7g. 
Stone,  Daniel,  i,  130. 
Stone,  Gen.,  i,  4ig,  420;  ii,  71. 
Strohn,  John,  i,  208. 
Stuart  and  Lincoln,  i,  158. 
Stuart,  John,  Mrs.,  statement  of,  1,177. 
Stuart,  John  T.,   Major,  i,  go ;    log, 

122,  158,  159,  181. 
Sturgis,  Gen.,  ii,  68. 
Sumner,  Charles,  Secretary,  i,  224,  301, 

303,  304,  3~6g. 

—  belief  in  Lincoln,  ii,  73,  g7,   171, 

229,  232. 


Sunderland,  Byron,  ii,  123. 

Swan,  A.  W.,  ii,  151. 

Sweeny,  William,  i,  3g8. 

Swett,  Leonard,  i,  337,  344,  345,  347, 

350,  353,  354,  357,  381  ;  ii,  66,  113, 

115,  116,  178,  200-203. 


Taney,  Chief  Justice,  i,  306 ;  ii,  12. 

"Talisman,"  steamer,  i,  70,  72. 

Taylor,  Bayard,  ii,  3g. 

Taylor,  Dick,  Col.,  i,  157. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  Gen.,  i,  7g,  81,  82, 

go,  2og,  218,  229  ;  ii,  13. 
Texas,  annexation  of,  i,  200. 
Texas,  conflict  in,  ii,  20,  21. 
Thayer,  Eli,  i,  392. 
Thomas,  William,  i,  159. 
Thornton,  H.  W.,  Hon.,  i,  179,  180. 
Tilton,  Theodore,  ii,  230. 
Todd,  Robert  S.,  i,  172. 
Tompkins,  Patrick,  i,  208. 
Toombs,  i,  216. 
Tracts,  campaign,  i,  369,  370. 
Trent,  Alexander,  i,  104. 
Trent,  William,  i,  104. 
Trent,  packet  ship,  ii,  72,  76. 
Troops,  call  for,  ii,  42,  no,  146,  195, 
Troops,  federal,  ii,  53. 
Troops,  review  of,  ii,  137,  138. 
Trumbull,  Lyman,  Judge,  i,  322. 
Tuck,  Amos,  i,  359,  402. 
Turnham,  David,  Mr.,  i,  133. 
Twiggs,  Gen.,  ii,  121. 

U 

Usher,  Secretary,  ii,  244. 
Usrey,  W.  J.,  i,  290. 


Van  Bergen,  Mr.,  i,  105. 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  i,  197,  218. 

Vallandigham    case,    ii,   180-186, 203. 

Vanuxem  and  Potter,  i,  250. 

"  Virginia  John."    (See  Lincoln,  John.) 

Virginia,  secession  of,  ii,  36. 

Voorhees,  ii,  203. 

W 

Wade,  of  Ohio,  i,  347. 
Wallace,  Mrs.,  i,  178,  179, 


INDEX 


475 


War,  brutality  of,  ii,  195. 

—  early  days  of,  ii,  158. 

—  end  of,  ii,  230. 

War  of  1812,  soldiers  of,  ii,  39. 

War  records,  ii,  43. 

Ward,  Artemus,  ii,  120. 

War  orders,  general,  ii,  94. 

Washburn,  i,  209,  210. 

Washburne,   E.  B.,  Hon.  i,  315,  364, 

372,  392,  396,  423  ;  ii,  203. 
Washington,  D.  C., in  1848,  i,  207-211. 

—  slave  market  in,  i,  228. 

—  alarming  condition  of,  ii,  36—39. 

—  arrival  of  troops,  ii,  40. 

—  a  hospital,  ii,  157,  158. 
Watkins,  Thomas,  i,  101,  104. 
Watson,  P.  H.  (See  McCormick  case.) 
Webster,  Daniel,  i,  166,  207  ;  ii,  43. 
Webster,  Fletcher,  i,  166. 

Weed,  Thurlow,  i,  225,  349,  355,  378, 
381,  392,  395,  398,  399,  402;  ii,  25, 

21. 

Weik,  Jesse,  i,  30. 
Weir,  Mr.,  i,  130. 
Weldon,  Lawrence,  Judge,  i,  247  ;  ii, 

237,  239. 
Welles,  Gideon,  Secretary,  i,  349,  359, 

403,  424;  ii,  27,  113. 
Wentworth,  "Long  John,"  i,  336., 
Wharton,  O.  P.,  i,  290. 
White  Cloud,  i,  74. 


White,  Horace,  i,  349. 

White  House,  arrangement  of,  ii,  46. 

Whitesides,  Gen.,  i,  186,  187. 

Whitney,  H.  C.,  i,  239,  242. 

—  reports  Lincoln's  lost  speech,  i,  296- 
299. 

Whiting,  Maj.- Gen.,  ii,  184. 

Whitney,  Walter,  i,  412. 

Whittier,  John  G.,  i,  224,  370. 

Wide  Awakes.     (See  campaign  1860.) 

Wigwam.     (See  Chicago  convention.) 

Wilkes,  Capt.,  ii,  72,  74. 

Wilson,  R.  L.,  i,  130. 

Wilson,  Henry,  ii,  171. 

Wilson,  William  B.,  ii,  48. 

Willard,  Henry,  i,  349. 

Willis,  N.  P.,  impression  of  the  Presi 
dent,  ii,  51. 

Wilmot,  David,  i,  292,  349,  398. 

Wilmot  proviso,  i,  222. 

Winters,  Wm.  Hoffman,  librarian,  i,  33, 

Winthrop,  Robert  C.,  i,  207,  212. 

Wood,  Fernando,  i,  396. 

Wright,  Dr.  J.  J.,  i,  17. 

Wright,  of  Mobile,  i,  373. 


Yates,  Richard,  i,  280. 
Yaneey,  William  L.,  i,  379. 


9|e 


I  >>t>l>t>t>£^v- 

—    ^  <->£  Y  v 

c    .^..,..     t-ti/M 

v 


IF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA          LIBRARY   OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 


^S^<Wi  J 


F   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA          LIBRARY    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 


F   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA          LIBRARY    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 


I  U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


VERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA          LIBRARY    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 


1  i 


VERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 


LIBRARY    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 


i  (I/ 


vvp 

/ERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 


LIBRARY    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA          LIBRARY 


